ThinkCritical.eu · Manipulation atlas
Scams and data theftUnusual payment
Paying into a new account, with gift cards or crypto, or a “small extra fee” – outside the way you normally pay.
Scammers need your money to leave by a route that can’t be reversed or traced: to a new account, as cash handed to a “courier”, through a crypto ATM or as gift cards. A small fee paid via a link, on the other hand, is a way to steal your card details.
Email from a “supplier”: “We have changed banks, so please pay the invoice to the new account below. If we don’t receive payment by tomorrow, we will have to suspend deliveries.”
How to spot it
- News of a “new account number” by email or message.
- A request for cash that someone will collect, a deposit into a crypto ATM, or gift card codes.
- A request to move money to a “safe account” – banks don’t do that.
- A small fee via a link: postage, customs, “redelivery”.
How to check and what to do
- Check any change of account by phone, on a number you know from the contract or earlier dealings – not from the new message.
- If a caller says your money is “at risk”, hang up and call your bank on the number on the back of your card.
- Never hand over cash or put money into a crypto ATM because of a phone call.
- If you have already paid, call your bank straight away and report it to your local police.
Tip: Neither your bank nor the police will ever ask you to “rescue” your money by transferring it, withdrawing it or putting it into a machine.
Full explanation and exercises:
thinkcritical.eu/en/manipulation-atlas/payment-pressure