Fraud in European banks amounted to almost €47 billion, while losses in banks in the United Kingdom due to fraud amounted to more than €26 billion. Quoting official figures, across Europe more than €88 billion last year were defrauded. Sadly, one may concur that recoupment of stolen funds would completely rely on the cooperation of the foreign bank and authorities.
Criminals are using AI-generated audio and video to impersonate trusted individuals, enabling large-scale fraud like a $25 million heist via a fake video call. “Pig butchering” scams that mix emotional manipulation with bogus crypto investments have stolen billions from U.S. victims, often traced to overseas cybercrime rings. Scammers continue to exploit older card holders through impersonation and fear tactics, prompting sanctions against organized cybercrime networks.
So-called “pig butchering” scams, involve victims lured into online relationships and persuaded to invest in fake cryptocurrency platforms, resulting in significant financial losses. Romance baiting might see an uptick in 2025 because of AI deepfake images/videos and romance chatbots. The goal is to get the victim to believe that there is a possibility of romance or dating, with the scammers sending messages to establish trust and gain enough of it to convince the victim to share personal data or even send funds.
A typical Romance Scam in 2025 involved deepfake images of Brad Pitt, which scammed the victim out of $850,000. Another variation of this scam involves sexual exploitation, also known as sextortion scam. Back in Malta, Inspector Brimmer says that defrauded amounts in cases filed with the police force between January and June 2025 totalled €8.3 million (150 cases).
Fraud through theft from business emails has also exploded, with fraudsters accessing emails and communicating with customers themselves and stealing money. In the first six months of this year, it has more than doubled, to €995,563. Multiple rulings in Malta, from the Arbiter for Financial Services (OAFS) in 2024-2025 held BOV partially responsible in scam cases.
For instance, in ASF 050/2024, a client lost €12,345 via a fake email link; the arbiter assigned 70% blame to the victim for negligence but 30% to BOV for not detecting anomalies like same-day transfers from savings accounts. At least 10 similar OAFS decisions involving BOV were issued in 2024 alone. The Arbiter was not convinced, pointing out that once the mistake in the BIC code required manual intervention on the part of the bank, it should have recognised the suspicious nature of the transaction.
This time, the arbiter questioned whether the bank, when reviewing this mistake, should have picked up on suspicious circumstances: a transaction of a significant amount being sent to a foreign account. For this reason, it ordered the bank to pay 20 per cent of the sum as partial compensation. The SMS spoofing BOV scam is when a client receives an SMS from the BOV number, which would usually have an alarming message asking people to click on a link.
As tourism exploded in 2025 with over 4 million visitors (mostly using credit cards), naturally bank risks have been high. Malta has seen a rise in banking-related scams, aligning with global trends in cyber fraud as digital banking adoption increased. Common tactics include phishing via SMS, emails, and phone calls; spoofing of bank numbers or websites; and sophisticated investment frauds like cryptocurrency schemes or business email compromise (BEC).
While scams have targeted various banks, Bank of Valletta (BOV), as Malta’s largest bank, it has been particularly prominent in reports due to its vast customer base. BOV has frequently alerted the public to emerging threats and collaborated with authorities like the Malta Police Force to combat them. Scammers spoof BOV’s official phone numbers to pose as bank employees, tricking victims into revealing sensitive information.
Broader investment scams, like fake endorsements (e.g. a fabricated Times of Malta interview with tenor Joseph Calleja promoting “CoinovX” in 2026), have also targeted BOV users. A new wave of sophisticated phishing scams is targeting Bank of Valletta (BOV) clients, with fraudulent messages appearing within the same SMS thread as genuine communications from the bank, making them appear legitimate and increasing the risk of victims being deceived.
Money is siphoned off into foreign bank accounts or crypto wallets, moving fast from one jurisdiction to another but regrettably not all jurisdictions are cooperative. When customers called BOV as they thought the message was genuine, BOV personnel warned them not to click on any links sent via SMS or email. Figures provided by (BOV) the Bank of Valletta show that in the first half of the year, the bank’s customers were defrauded of more than €3 million between them, an increase of more than €2.3 million when compared to the first six months of last year.
More arrests were made following an extensive investigation by the Financial Crime Investigations Department. Recently, the police have arrested a 25-year-old woman and an 82-year-old man in connection with an online fraud case which saw some 200 people suffer total losses of €1 million.
Tammy Caruana, currently unemployed, was arraigned this month, where she denied all charges, including money laundering, fraud, and being part of an organised crime group and criminal association. She has been accused of duping some 200 people by impersonating local banks and defrauding the victims. Investigations have linked the woman to an international criminal network.
Some ask what the laws are protecting the honest card holder. Starting with PSD2 (the EU Payment Services Directive, it was transposed into Maltese law. This distinguishes authorised from unauthorised payments. APP fraud usually involves a payment that the victim “authorised” (but under deception). PSD2 requires the payer to notify the PSP (bank) without undue delay on becoming aware of an unauthorised transaction.
Public awareness campaigns, including BOV’s “Spot the Scam” initiative and partnerships with the Malta Chamber of Commerce, have aimed to educate users. A positive note respects how banks have contractual terms and internal complaint procedures: these often set procedural deadlines for lodging complaints or requesting an internal review.
