Digital Euro, ECB warning: “Don’t respond to emails inviting investment, it’s fraud”

Brussels – The digital euro isn’t there yet, but fraud in its name is. The European Central Bank is putting consumers across the eurozone on notice, complete with an official statement warning against responding to emails requesting personal information due to ongoing construction on the project, which would likely last until 2025. The all-European electronic payment system, designed for intra-European transactions without reliance on foreign operators, is thus yet purely theoretical. On the other hand, the activity of the bad guys is quite different.

The phenomenon appears far from isolated. “We are aware of fake emails and websites soliciting people to invest in the digital euro,” the ECB services admit, putting it plainly: “This is a scam. As ECB,” the Eurotower services continue, “we never ask people for investments, money, or personal information.”

Mail with European Central Bank logos, text messages from phone numbers that “appear to be from the ECB (e.g. +49 69 1344 XXXX),” but are not. The Eurotower urges people not to respond, to “not click on any links contained in the email, do not open any of its attachments, and do not respond to any invitations or campaigns.” Then, the clarification for the public: “If someone contacts you saying they work for the ECB and hold money that belongs to you, it’s a scam. We are not a commercial bank, so we do not hold accounts for the public.”

The ECB provides useful anti-fraud tricks. Everyone is advised to check the email’s sender: an “official” email message will “always come from an email address ending with @ecb.europa.eu or @ecb.int.” Another rule of thumb: “Never trust a forwarded email.” Regarding any links in the text of the email, it is recommended to “hover over the link without clicking on it.” Doing so will display the full text of the link. Some email programs will display it at the bottom of the screen. “If the link does not include ‘ecb.europa.eu,’ the email is probably fraudulent.”