Bank fraud: the bank must refund the money immediately
Were you the victim of phishing and is your bank refusing to refund you, claiming you were negligent? The Court of Justice of the European Union has made clear that this claim is not enough to refuse an immediate refund.
A message that appears to come from your bank, a fake website, and someone makes a transfer from your account without your authorisation. In situations like this, banks often refuse to return the money, claiming that the customer was negligent in entering their details.
In its judgment of 15 October 2026 (Case C-70/25, Tukowiecka), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) made clear that this claim, on its own, does not allow the bank to refuse an immediate refund.
The case
A customer was led to enter her bank details on a fraudulent website (phishing), which allowed third parties to make a transfer without her authorisation.
What the Court decided
Interpreting Articles 73 and 74 of Directive (EU) 2015/2366 (PSD2), the CJEU distinguished two stages:
- first, the bank must immediately refund the unauthorised payment transaction;
- then, if the bank considers that the customer should bear the losses for having acted with gross negligence, it is for the bank to prove it.
And in Portugal?
This matter is governed by Decree-Law No. 91/2018 of 12 November (Legal Framework for Payment Services and Electronic Money). As a rule, the bank must refund the amount by the end of the following business day after becoming aware of the transaction or being notified of it (Article 114(1)). It may only depart from this duty if it has reasonable grounds to suspect fraud by the customer and reports them to the judicial authorities (Article 114(2)).
The rules on proof of authorisation of transactions and on the customer's liability, including cases of gross negligence, are set out in Articles 113 and 115 of the same Decree-Law.
If you are the victim of fraud
Report the transaction to your bank as soon as you become aware of it and keep all evidence: messages, emails and records of the transaction. If the bank refuses to refund you, we can assess your case with you.
This article is for information purposes only and does not replace legal advice on your specific case.
Applicable under Portuguese law.
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