I fell for a Pix scam: how to try to get your money back
Brazil's Central Bank runs the MED for exactly this — but the window is short and the steps have a right order.
Audience: Companies and Operations · Risk level: CRITICAL
Blindfy Intelligence Unit · Technical review by Blindfy
Scenario
You sent a Pix believing a fake story — the "son with a new number", the swapped payment slip, the store that never existed. Minutes later it hits you. The money is gone. Can you get it back?
How the scam works
Brazil's Central Bank runs the MED (Special Refund Mechanism): when you report fraud to YOUR bank, it can request that the funds be frozen in the receiving account while the case is analyzed. The faster the report, the higher the chance the money is still there — criminals pulverize the amount within minutes.
Common mistake
Wasting hours trying to reach the scammer, or only filing the police report (B.O.) without contacting the bank. The MED is triggered BY YOUR BANK — without a formal report through your institution's official channel, the mechanism never even starts.
Impact
Without fast action, the odds of recovery plummet: the amount is sliced across several mule accounts and converted. With the MED triggered early, partial or full freezes do happen.
What works
The right sequence, fast: (1) your bank's official channel to report the fraud and request the MED, (2) an online police report (B.O.) right after — it grounds the analysis, (3) protocol numbers for everything, (4) formal follow-up. Important: no serious player promises guaranteed recovery — what exists is a method to maximize the odds.
Protection checklist
- Call your bank's official channel NOW and report the fraud (request the MED)
- Write down the service protocol number — you will need it
- File a police report (B.O.) online describing the scam (fraud)
- Send the police report to the bank to reinforce the MED analysis
- Keep the Pix receipt, the conversations and the scam's ad/link
- Never return a "wrong Pix" you received — it's bait; call the bank
- Scam against your company? Investigate the vector (email? payment slip?) before the next one
Editorial sources
- Banco Central do Brasil — Orientações oficiais sobre golpes e Pix
- CERT.br / NIC.br — Cartilha de Segurança para Internet
- ENCCLA / Ministério da Justiça — Enfrentamento a golpes digitais
Recovery is a race against the clock — and prevention is cheaper than remediation. For companies, Blindfy closes the vector that let the scam in: swapped payment slips, compromised email, cloned sites.
