According to the latest Doutor Finanças barometer, 66% of Portuguese people were targeted by at least one attempt at money-related fraud or theft in the past 12 months. Only 4% reported an attempt that resulted in financial loss and 2% shared data, although without monetary loss. The most frequent fraud is smishing (fake SMS), followed by phishing (fake email) and vishing (phone calls).
Although 95% of respondents say they would not click on suspicious links from bank messages, 31% feel not very or not at all confident in their ability to identify online fraud attempts. Among victims, only 47% filed a complaint with authorities and 23% did not take any action.
Portugal is largely digitalised, with 90% of Portuguese people using the internet daily and 94% owning a smartphone with internet access. MB Way is the most used financial channel. However, 34% feel not very or not at all confident using digital financial services, and 47% stopped carrying out a financial operation because they considered the process too complex. Artificial intelligence is also met with reluctance, with 48% not trusting AI tools in a financial context.
Sérgio Cardoso, chief education officer at Doutor Finanças, warned that when two in every three Portuguese people have been targeted by fraud attempts and one third do not feel confident with digital financial services, there is an important path to follow. The barometer was presented on International Literacy Day, September 8th.
