Lithuania Warns of Pension Payout Scams as Millions of Fraud Attempts Blocked

As Lithuania prepares for a new wave of second-pillar pension payouts, citizens are being warned about an anticipated surge in scammer activity. Pension companies are set to disburse funds to individuals who applied to withdraw from pension savings in the second quarter of this year, making this a prime season for fraudsters.

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Scammers rarely act randomly – they follow the state's calendar. When citizens expect tax refunds, they pretend to be the State Tax Inspectorate (VMI). When payments or compensations are disbursed, messages appear about supposedly suspended payments, the need to confirm bank details, or log into state systems.

"Bitė Lietuva," a telecommunications company, reported blocking over 300,000 scam SMS messages and nearly 4 million scam calls in the first half of 2026 alone. On average, the company intercepts more than 20,000 scam attempts daily targeting Lithuanian residents through text messages and calls.

Scammers are known to follow a "state calendar," impersonating official bodies like the State Tax Inspectorate (VMI), "Mano VMI," e-government portals, and even the police. They exploit periods when people expect money or official communications, creating fake websites that mimic legitimate ones with subtle alterations in URLs. "People first see a familiar logo or institution name, so they often don't check the links," explained Eligijus Rakickas, Head of the Private Clients Segment at "Bitė Lietuva."

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People first see a familiar logo or institution name – because of this, they often don't check the links. Instead of VMI, it might say VML, instead of 'ePaslaugos' – 'ePasIaugos', and instead of .lt, another domain ending is used. Not everyone notices such small differences.

Rakickas noted that scam activity is significantly higher on weekdays, decreasing on weekends, suggesting scammers plan their operations around typical working hours when people might expect institutional contact. While technology helps block many attempts, he acknowledged it's a constant "cat and mouse game" as scammers adapt their methods to bypass security systems.

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The fight against remote scammers is a continuous process. We use existing market solutions and develop new ones, but we still notice that as soon as scammers realize their 'campaign' is no longer reaching "Bitė" clients, they look for other ways to bypass security systems. It's a constant cat and mouse game.