Pix scams: how to spot them and ask for your money back

Scammers work on the person, not on Pix

Speed is what makes the scams work. A Pix payment reaches the other account in seconds, and the scammer moves it on just as fast. The central bank’s Pix security page describes the protections built into Pix and a refund mechanism for fraud victims, and it is clear that recovery is not guaranteed. Prevention is the part you control.

Five scams to recognize

The new number. A message from a supposed relative says they changed phones and need an urgent Pix. Before paying, call their old number or ask something only they would know.

The fake seller. A listing far below the market price asks for payment by Pix before delivery, often to a key whose name does not match the seller. Check the name your bank shows before you confirm, and with strangers prefer payment methods that protect the buyer.

The fake bank call. Someone posing as your bank’s security team says your account is under attack and guides you to move money to a safe account. A real bank does not ask you to transfer money to protect it. Hang up and call the number on your card.

The wrong Pix, described below, and the fake receipt: a buyer shows a receipt for a Pix that was only scheduled, then cancels it. Check that the money is in your account, not that someone shows you a screenshot.

What should you do if you receive a Pix by mistake?

Return it only through the original transaction. Febraban, the Brazilian banks’ federation, warned about a scheme in which a scammer sends a Pix to a victim’s phone-number key, then calls to say it was a mistake and asks for the money back to a different account. The scammer then claims fraud on the original payment, and the bank takes the same amount from the victim a second time.

Febraban’s advice is to open the received payment in your bank app and use its return option, which sends the money automatically to the account it came from. Never return it with a new Pix to a key someone gives you, and call your bank if you are unsure.

How the MED refund mechanism works

The Special Refund Mechanism (MED) is a Pix tool to help fraud victims try to recover money. According to the Banco Central do Brasil, you start it in your institution’s app, and every institution must offer it there. The funds in the receiving account are blocked temporarily while the institutions involved review the case.

If they confirm fraud, the money can be returned in full or in part, depending on the balance left in the scammer’s account or in other accounts involved. You can ask for a refund up to 80 days after the payment, but the sooner the better. The MED does not cover commercial disputes, a Pix sent to the wrong person because you did not check the name, or money that reached someone who took no part in the fraud.

If you were scammed: what to do first

Contest the payment in your bank’s app right away to start the MED, and file a police report. If the bank does not resolve it, you can complain to the central bank. Use the central bank’s Registrato service to check for accounts or Pix keys in your name that you do not recognize, and turn on BC Protege+ to block new accounts from being opened in your name.

Keep the receipt, the transaction ID, the messages, and the phone numbers involved. Change any password you may have shared. And be wary of anyone who contacts you offering to recover the money for a fee; that is a common second scam.

Pix, Lex, and transfers no one can reverse

Lex offers a Pix route for adding reais. A Lex deposit always starts in the app: when the route is available for your account, Lex generates a Pix code for that operation, with an amount and an expiry, and you pay it from an account in your own name. If someone sends you a Pix code and says it will fund your Lex account, it is not a Lex deposit.

Once your reais arrive in Lex, the balance sits in a self-custodial account. The MED covers Pix payments between institutions; it does not cover transfers of tokens between wallets, which nobody can reverse, Lex included. Check every wallet address before you send, and never share your passkey or the codes Lex sends to your email.

An example: the R$300 that arrived by mistake

Illustrative example. Ana, in Salvador, receives a Pix of R$300 from someone she does not know. Minutes later a man calls, apologizes for the mistake, and asks her to send the money to his wife’s key because his own account is blocked.

Ana remembers the warning. She opens the received payment in her bank app and uses the return option, which sends the R$300 back to the account it came from. She tells the caller that the money has gone back to the original account, and hangs up when he insists on the other key.

If she had sent a new Pix to the wife’s key, the man could have contested his original payment through the MED, and her bank could have taken another R$300 from her account. Returning through the original transaction closed the loop: the money went back where it came from, and the record shows it.