Ritratt: Revolut

Tista’ taqra bil-
Malti.

Revolut has urged customers in Malta to hang up immediately if they receive an unexpected call demanding personal details, after a wave of sophisticated phone scams, impersonating the digital bank and threatening victims with police action, has left multiple people losing their entire account balances.

A spokesperson for the fintech company told Newsbook Malta the calls are fraudulent and bear no connection to the company. “That was definitely a scam call, and it was not from Revolut,” the spokesperson said. “We will never call you out of the blue without scheduling it with you in advance, and we certainly wouldn’t threaten you with police action or ask you to share your personal details over the phone.”

In recent days, a number of people who spoke to Newsbook Malta described receiving calls from a Maltese number carrying a pre-recorded message in English, purportedly from Revolut.

A female voice warns the recipient that their personal details do not match the company’s records and that failure to provide the requested information will result in a report to the police. A second caller, described as having an Indian accent and speaking from what sounds like a call centre, then requests account codes and personal information.

Victims who panicked and complied discovered, sometimes hours later, that their accounts had been completely emptied.

The scam appears to be deliberately targeting two distinct groups. Several Maltese residents have been affected, but a notable number of victims have come from Malta’s Indian community, particularly recent arrivals.

One woman, studying in Malta, told Newsbook Malta she believed the call was genuine partly because the caller shared her accent. She only discovered the fraud when she attempted to pay her first month’s rent. A male Indian resident, targeted shortly after arriving in Malta, said he had since filed a report with the police.

The Revolut spokesperson’s advice to anyone who receives such a call was unambiguous: “If you ever receive a text, call, or email that you aren’t completely sure about, reaching out to us here in the chat is always the best way to double-check. I recommend blocking that phone number so they can’t try again.”

The spokesperson added that anyone who challenges a suspicious caller, hangs up and contacts Revolut directly “did the exact right thing.”

Customers concerned about their security are advised to use Revolut’s in-app call verification feature, introduced in January 2026, which displays a clear banner when the app is open during a phone call indicating whether the caller is genuinely from Revolut or not. The feature is designed specifically to defeat number-spoofing, by which scammers make their calls appear to originate from legitimate sources.

Additional security layers available through the app’s settings include wealth protection, which requires biometric verification before large transfers, and a delayed transfer mode for use outside trusted locations.

The police threat deployed by the fraudsters is not arbitrary. Security experts note it is specifically designed to induce panic sufficient to override a victim’s better judgement, and, in the case of recently arrived foreign nationals unfamiliar with local procedures, carries the additional implicit threat of visa or residency consequences. It is this combination of urgency, authority and fear that leads victims to act against their instincts.

Revolut Bank UAB is authorised by the Bank of Lithuania, licensed by the European Central Bank, and operates in Malta through passporting rights, registered with the Malta Financial Services Authority for cross-border banking services.