Portuguese · PSP / GNR
A suspicious call from scammers: understand and hang up: what to say in Portuguese
Someone calls, supposedly from the bank, and asks for a code. It looks like scammers.
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How it's done. A bank, the tax office (Finanças) or Social Security never ask for SMS codes over the phone: hang up and call the official number yourself.Prepared by the Movko team, November 2026. This is language help, not legal or medical advice: check the rules with the office itself.
Cheat sheet for your visit
Tap ▶ to listen, or “Show” to show the phrase to the other person. The switch at the bottom of the card changes the masculine and feminine form.
1
YOU START
Estou?
Shtoh?
Hello?
THEY SAY
Bom dia, fala do banco. Houve um problema com a sua conta.Bohn DEE-uh, FAH-luh doo BAHN-koo. Ov oon proo-BLEH-muh kohn uh SOO-uh KOHN-tuh.
Good morning, this is the bank. There's a problem with your account.
They might also say:
Bom dia, ligo do banco. Há um problema com a sua conta.
Bohn DEE-uh, LEE-goo doo BAHN-koo. Uh oon proo-BLEH-muh kohn uh SOO-uh KOHN-tuh.
Good morning, I'm calling from the bank. There is a problem with your account.
2
YOU REPLY
Qual é o problema?
Kwahl eh oo proo-BLEH-muh?
What is the problem?
THEY SAY
Precisamos do código que recebeu por SMS.Prih-see-ZAH-moozh doo KOH-dee-goo k rih-sih-BEH-oo poor es-em-es.
We need the code you received by SMS.
3
YOU REPLY
Não dou códigos por telefone.
Now doh KOH-dee-goosh poor tlih-FOHN.
I don't give out codes over the phone.
THEY SAY
É urgente, a sua conta vai ser bloqueada.Eh oor-ZHAYNT, uh SOO-uh KOHN-tuh vigh sehr bloo-kee-AH-duh.
It's urgent, your account will be blocked.
4
YOU FINISH
Eu ligo eu mesmo para o banco.
Eh-oo LEE-goo eh-oo MEZH-moo pruh oo BAHN-koo.
I'll call the bank myself.
Or say:Vou desligar.
Voh dizh-lee-GAHR.
Or say:Vou ligar para a polícia.
Voh lee-GAHR pruh uh poo-LEE-syuh.
Speaking as:
Words worth knowing
Estou
Shtoh
verb
I am
Bom
Bohn
adjective
good
dia
DEE-uh
noun
day
fala
FAH-luh
verb
speak
banco
BAHN-koo
noun
bank
Houve
Ov
verb
there was, happened
problema
proo-BLEH-muh
noun
problem
conta
KOHN-tuh
noun
account
é
eh
verb
is
All the words, with explanations, base forms and tap-a-word help, are in the app.
If you did not understand
Desculpe, não percebi.
Dish-KOOLP, now pir-sih-BEE.
Sorry, I didn't understand.
Similar situations
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