⚑Portugal Imigrante
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Scams targeting people moving to Portugal

The most common schemes against people preparing to move to Portugal, as described by the Portuguese authorities, and where to report them. Each warning shows the official body it comes from.

⚠️ Golden rule: do not pay anything to someone you cannot identify — not to see a home, not to «reserve» an appointment. Someone who rushes you and asks for payment in advance, by message and without ever meeting you, is the pattern described in the official alerts below.

Rental homes that do not exist

  • How it works

    The Public Prosecutor’s Office describes online adverts for homes that do not exist or do not belong to the advertiser, with rent below similar homes and photos copied from other adverts. Foreign citizens who want to move to Portugal are among the main victims.

    📜 PGR (Prosecutor General’s Office) — Cybercrime Office, alert of 12/07/2023

  • The signs

    The supposed landlord quickly moves the conversation to email or WhatsApp and will not talk by phone; says they are abroad and cannot show the home; asks for money for a viewing or to reserve the home before the contract; gives a foreign bank account; or sends links to pages imitating well-known booking platforms. Once they have the money, they stop replying and the advert disappears.

    📜 PGR — Cybercrime Office, alert of 12/07/2023

  • What to do

    Look carefully at the advert and at the profile of whoever posted it, especially when all contact is digital, with no personal interaction. See also what the law says about deposits and rent in advance in renting a home.

    📜 PGR — Cybercrime Office, alert of 12/07/2023; Civil Code, art. 1076

Fake AIMA emails and websites

  • Only the aima.gov.pt domain

    AIMA (the immigration agency) warns that all legitimate communications about appointments come from the aima.gov.pt domain (in occasional cases of system restructuring, from sef.pt). Fake emails with made-up appointments have circulated, sent from similar addresses such as «saf-aima.pt».

    📜 AIMA — Circulation of fraudulent emails (22/08/2024)

  • If you receive a suspicious email

    Do not click the links; block the sender, mark it as spam and delete it. AIMA recommends reporting it to the Polícia Judiciária (criminal police) or the Public Prosecutor’s Office, or in person to the PSP or GNR (police).

    📜 AIMA — Circulation of fraudulent emails (22/08/2024)

Visas and middlemen

  • Who can receive your visa application

    A national visa application is submitted at the Portuguese consulate or, in the cities where the MNE (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) has contracted one, at a certified company (VFS, BLS or TLS, depending on the country). The official list, by country and city, is on the MNE visa portal (external service providers). A person or company not on that list is not an official channel.

    📜 MNE — Visa portal, External Service Providers

  • False documents are a crime

    Making, altering or using a false document to obtain an unlawful benefit is a crime punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine. Request your documents directly from the bodies that issue them — see the documents to sort out in your country.

    📜 Penal Code, art. 256

  • Someone claiming to be a lawyer

    Before paying someone who presents themselves as a lawyer in Portugal, check in the Portuguese Bar Association lawyer search that they are registered.

    📜 Ordem dos Advogados (Bar Association)

  • Job offers

    Employment agencies cannot charge the candidate anything. The signs of a fake offer are in looking for work.

    📜 Decree-Law No. 260/2009, art. 23

Your money and your bank

  • Messages «from the bank»

    The Public Prosecutor’s Office warns of emails, text messages and WhatsApp messages that pretend to be from banks, create urgency and include a link to a fake page that looks like the bank’s, asking for your access codes. Anyone who enters them gives the scammers access to their account. Always go to your bank’s website or app the usual way, never through a link you received.

    📜 PGR — Cybercrime Office, alert of 13/01/2022

  • MB WAY guided by a stranger

    A «buyer» asks you to go to a Multibanco cash machine to activate MB WAY (a mobile payment service) and link their phone number, or to give them the code you receive. That gives them access to your card. Never activate MB WAY following instructions from strangers or give them card details or codes. If it has happened, contact your bank immediately and report it.

    📜 PGR — Cybercrime Office, alert of 07/04/2020

Where to report it

  • If you are still outside Portugal

    The Cybercrime Office of the Prosecutor General’s Office receives reports from citizens by email: cibercrime@pgr.pt. Keep the messages, the adverts and the proof of payment.

    📜 PGR — Cybercrime Office, report on complaints received (2023)

  • If you are already in Portugal

    The Queixa Eletrónica portal (PSP and GNR) accepts complaints about several crimes, including fraud and fraud related to work or employment (list on the portal), from Portuguese or foreign people who live or are in Portugal. You can also go to any PSP police station or GNR post. In an emergency, call 112.

    📜 Queixa Eletrónica portal (Ministry of Internal Administration)

  • Labour exploitation or trafficking

    Migrant Support Line: 808 257 257. CIG helpline: 800 202 148. More contacts in looking for work.

    📜 CIG — leaflet on human trafficking

Official sources (in Portuguese)

Checked in October 2026.

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