Where to Report a Scam in Italy (2026 Guide)

The short answer

Italy's routes in 2026: call your bank's fraud line to block the card and attempt a recall; report to the Polizia Postale (Italy's cybercrime police) online at commissariatodips.it, and/or file a formal denuncia in person at any Polizia or Carabinieri station; call 112 / 113 if money is moving now. Report investment or fake-broker fraud to CONSOB; phishing sites and cyber incidents to CSIRT Italia (the national cyber agency, ACN); fake webshops and unfair commercial practices to the AGCM. If your bank wrongly refuses a valid claim, escalate free of charge to the Arbitro Bancario Finanziario (ABF) at the Banca d'Italia. Under EU law an unauthorised payment must be refunded; a transfer you were deceived into making yourself generally is not — so speed and a clear report are everything.

If you've just been scammed in Italy, two things decide the next 24 hours: stopping any further loss, and building a record while the evidence still exists. The order below is built to be the fastest path through a system that, unlike some of its neighbours, has no single front door.

If you're reading this with a transfer you already regret, skip to if money has already moved — a same-day bank recall is sometimes the only thing that works.

A directory card titled 'Where to report a scam in Italy' listing eight channels in two columns: your bank, the Polizia Postale, the Carabinieri, Poste Italiane, CONSOB, the Arbitro Bancario Finanziario, AGCM, and CSIRT Italia, each with a short description of what it is for. — Italy has no single national portal — these are the doors, by what each one is for. Tell your bank first, then file with the Polizia Postale.

The hard truth about getting your money back

This matters most, because it sets your expectations correctly before you spend a week chasing the wrong outcome.

Italian law follows the EU baseline through the Payment Services Directive. If a payment was unauthorised — someone used your card or accessed your account without permission — your bank must refund it, and your liability is generally capped at €50. If you authorised the payment yourself while deceived — a bonifico you sent because a convincing "bank security officer" told you to move money to a "safe account" — that counts as a valid instruction, and the automatic EU refund right does not apply.

This is the gap that strands scam victims across most of Europe: banks refund the hack, not the con. There is change coming — the EU's new Payment Services Regulation (PSR/PSD3) introduces shared bank liability and a full refund where a fraudster impersonates your own bank and you report promptly — but it phases in from 2026 and isn't fully in force yet. For now, in Italy, your real levers are speed (a fast recall), a clean report, and the Arbitro Bancario Finanziario if the bank refuses a claim it should honour. See the pan-European recovery map for how this compares across the bloc.

Start with your bank and the Polizia Postale

Two reports matter most, and the order is the same every time: the bank moves on the money, the Polizia Postale opens the criminal side.

—Your bank, the same hour. Block the card in your app or by phone and report fraud. If the payment was unauthorised, dispute it and ask for an immediate recall of the transfer. If a fake 'bank official' talked you into it, say 'spoofing' explicitly so it's logged correctly.

—The Polizia Postale — the cybercrime police. Italy's State Police unit for online fraud. Submit a report through the citizen portal at commissariatodips.it; for a loss you'll usually also file a formal denuncia. Call 112 or 113 if money is moving right now.

—Or the Carabinieri. You can file the denuncia at any Carabinieri station too — useful if it's closer. It feeds the same criminal-justice system.

—Keep the protocol number. Your bank, the ABF, or a lawyer may ask for the report reference, so note it down.

The full Italian reporting directory, by scam type

Different scams route to different specialists. Using the right one matters more than reporting to all of them.

—Any fraud where you lost money. Report to the Polizia Postale (commissariatodips.it) and file a denuncia at a Polizia or Carabinieri station; tell your bank the same hour. 112 / 113 if it's live.

—A fake 'Poste Italiane', 'INPS', 'Agenzia delle Entrate', or bank text. Classic smishing. Don't tap the link; report it to the Polizia Postale and tell the impersonated organisation. Poste Italiane confirms it never asks you to move money or confirm card details via an SMS link.

—Bank-impersonation ('spoofing') calls. The number on your screen looks like your bank's and a fake 'fraud officer' walks you into a transfer. Tell your real bank immediately, report to the Polizia Postale, and name it as spoofing.

—Investment, crypto, or fake-broker fraud. Check the firm against CONSOB's warnings and authorised-intermediaries lists before investing, and report an unlicensed operator. CONSOB can order the blocking of abusive financial websites.

—A fake webshop or an unfair commercial practice. Report to the AGCM (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato), Italy's competition-and-consumer authority. A consumer association such as Altroconsumo or Adiconsum can also help you assert your rights.

—A phishing website or a cyber incident. Report malicious sites and incidents to CSIRT Italia, run by the national cybersecurity agency (ACN), at csirt.gov.it.

—A bank that mishandled your case or refused a valid claim. Escalate free of charge to the Arbitro Bancario Finanziario (ABF) at the Banca d'Italia — the out-of-court banking dispute body.

—A scam you spotted but didn't fall for. Still report it to the Polizia Postale, or CONSOB for a fake investment offer. No-loss reports build the national picture and help get sites taken down.

If money has already moved — the first 24 hours

Speed is the whole game. This is the maximum-recovery order:

1Call your bank's fraud line and block the card. If the payment was unauthorised, dispute it and ask for an immediate recall. If a fake "bank official" tricked you, say spoofing so it's recorded correctly.

2Report to the Polizia Postale at commissariatodips.it and file a denuncia at a Polizia or Carabinieri station. Call 112 / 113 if money is still moving. Keep the protocol number.

3Document everything in one place. Screenshot the messages, the spoofed number or sender, the fake site, and the transaction details (date, time, amount, recipient IBAN). Save it as a single PDF before the accounts vanish.

4If it was investment fraud, check the firm against CONSOB's lists and report an unlicensed operator. See the honest recovery odds by payment method for what realistically works once money has left.

5Block the scammer everywhere and stop engaging. Any "recovery" offer that follows — a lawyer, an agency, someone claiming to be the Polizia or the Guardia di Finanza — is the second scam. We took the pattern apart in the recovery-scams piece.

6If the bank wrongly refuses a valid claim, escalate free of charge to the Arbitro Bancario Finanziario (ABF) at the Banca d'Italia.

Within days of any public post or report about your loss, "recovery scammers" will find you. They will pose as a lawyer, a fund-recovery specialist, or even the Polizia, the Guardia di Finanza, or your bank, and ask for an upfront fee or your banking details. Real Italian channels — your bank, the Polizia Postale, CONSOB, the ABF — never charge upfront to recover money, and authorities never cold-call demanding payment. See the recovery-scams piece for the full pattern.

The habits that keep you out of the reporting machinery entirely

Reporting is downstream. Prevention is upstream, and three habits stop most Italian scams cold:

—Never move money or read out a code because of a call you didn't start. Real banks never phone to tell you to transfer to a 'safe account' or to confirm a one-time code. Hang up and call your bank back on the number printed on your card. This single habit defeats the spoofing call.

—Treat every 'Poste', 'INPS', or bank text with a link as a scam until proven otherwise. Don't tap it. Open the organisation's official app or type its address yourself. The link is the whole trap.

—Treat any money conversation that moves onto WhatsApp or Telegram as hostile. Investment "advisers", recruiters and romance contacts in Italy overwhelmingly pivot to private chat. The move off a verifiable platform is the single most reliable scam signal — the same playbook as the family-impersonation scams.

If you're unsure whether something is a scam before any money moves, the fastest second opinion is the Scam Checker on this site, or our free case review. Both are read by a human and answered within 24 hours.

From the field. Italy's weakness isn't a lack of authorities — it's that there are several, and victims waste their most valuable hours deciding which to call. The answer is almost always the same two, in order: your bank, then the Polizia Postale. Everything else — CONSOB, the AGCM, the ABF — is a specialist you add once the money and the criminal report are handled. But hold onto the one truth underneath all of it: most deception transfers are still not refunded anywhere in Europe, which is why the pause that stops the payment is worth more than the entire directory above.

One rule, end to end

If you take one habit from this piece, take this: any unsolicited call, message, or text that pressures you to move money or confirm a code is a scam until you have verified it by contacting the bank or institution back on a number you already trust. Italy will help you report it after the fact — but the pause that stops the transfer is still worth more than every authority downstream of it.

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Common questions about reporting a scam in Italy

Where do I report a scam in Italy?

Start with two calls in the same hour: your bank's fraud line (to block the card and attempt a recall of the transfer), and the Polizia Postale — Italy's cybercrime police — who take online fraud reports at commissariatodips.it, or file a formal complaint (denuncia) in person at any Polizia or Carabinieri station. Call 112 (or 113) if money is moving right now. For phishing sites and cyber incidents, report to CSIRT Italia (the national cyber agency, ACN). For investment or fake-broker fraud, check and report the firm to CONSOB. If your bank wrongly refuses a valid claim, escalate free of charge to the Arbitro Bancario Finanziario (ABF) at the Banca d'Italia.

Will an Italian bank refund money I was scammed into sending?

It depends on one distinction. If the payment was unauthorised — someone used your card or got into your account without permission — EU law (the Payment Services Directive, recepita in Italy) requires the bank to refund it, with your liability generally capped at €50. If you authorised the transfer yourself because you were deceived (a 'bonifico' you sent under pressure from a fake bank official), that is legally a valid instruction and the automatic refund right does not apply — so recovery depends on a fast recall, the bank's goodwill, or an ABF ruling. This is changing across the EU: the new Payment Services Regulation (PSR/PSD3) introduces shared liability and a full refund where a fraudster impersonates your bank and you report promptly — but it phases in from 2026, so for now, speed and a clear report are your best levers.

What is the Polizia Postale and how do I file a report online?

The Polizia Postale e delle Comunicazioni is the Italian State Police unit responsible for cybercrime, online fraud, and communications. You can submit a report or request through its citizen portal at commissariatodips.it without going to a station, though for a loss you will usually also file a formal denuncia in person. For anything urgent — money moving now — call 112 or 113. Keep the report's protocol number: your bank and the ABF may ask for it.

I received a fake 'Poste Italiane' or 'INPS' text — is that a scam?

Almost certainly yes. Smishing impersonating Poste Italiane (a 'held parcel' or 'blocked account'), INPS, the Agenzia delle Entrate, or your bank is one of the most common Italian scams. Poste Italiane has run a public campaign on exactly this ('a scammer can't do anything without you') and confirms it does not ask you to confirm card details or move money via a link in an SMS. Never tap the link; go to the organisation's official app or site yourself. Forward or report the message to the Polizia Postale, and tell the impersonated organisation.

Someone is offering to recover my lost money for a fee — is that real?

No — that is the second scam, and it targets people who have just lost money. Fake 'fund recovery' agents, bogus lawyers, and people posing as the Polizia, the Guardia di Finanza, or your bank will promise to get your money back for an upfront fee, a 'tax', or your banking details. No genuine Italian authority or service ever charges you upfront to recover funds. Block them, and bring anything you're unsure about to your bank or to us first.

Sources & further reading

Claims in this piece are attributed to these authorities. Click any of them to verify.

Where to report a scam in Italy — there's no single hotline, so knowing the right door is half the battle.