Scammers pretending to work for DNB are still calling people and asking for PINs after claiming something is wrong with a bank account, and the central bank is telling people to ignore them. That warning landed as DNB said in early 2026 that seven banks, payment institutions and electronic money institutions were taking measures against payment fraud after an exploratory examination.
The timing matters because payment fraud is rising, and DNB says financial institutions sit on the front line of the fight alongside social media platforms, where many scams begin. DNB did not publish a list of the seven institutions, but it said all of them had highly committed teams and were motivated to protect victims and identify perpetrators.
In practice, the institutions were using a mix of tools. Banks try to detect potentially fraudulent transactions, with analysts deciding whether suspicious payments should go through. They set standard daily limits, use a four-hour waiting period when a customer changes those limits, issue warnings about high-risk payments and run large-scale advertising campaigns against fraud. They are also trying to keep services out of the hands of fraudsters, including straw men and money mules who receive money into accounts that are later used to move it on.
Payment fraud often starts well before a transfer is made. DNB said customers can be tricked through WhatsApp fraud, bank helpdesk fraud, investment fraud or dating fraud, and the problem often becomes visible only when money leaves the account. In some cases, a customer may even be the fraudster, using someone else’s account to move the proceeds. That is why the Dutch central bank says the fight cannot begin only after the loss is noticed.
There is also a gap in how the problem is being handled. DNB said the institutions are taking fraud seriously, but most of them still manage it mainly at an operational level, processing and assessing signals and then taking action, rather than through clear strategic objectives. At one institution that does set strategic goals, DNB said those goals help reduce fraud, a reminder that structure can matter as much as speed.
DNB said it will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each institution individually and fold the findings into regular supervision and, where needed, on-site inspections. That matters beyond the seven firms in the review, because new European payment-services rules will force banks, under certain conditions, to compensate consumers for losses from bank helpdesk fraud. For customers, the message is immediate: if a caller claims to be from DNB and asks for a PIN, hang up. The central bank says never to respond.
