RESPONSABILIDADE CIVIL DAS INSTITUIÇÕES FINANCEIRAS PELO GOLPE DA FALSA CENTRAL DE ATENDIMENTO PRATICADO CONTRA O CONSUMIDOR BANCÁRIO

Abstract

This monograph aims to investigate the civil liability of financial institutions for damages caused to banking consumers who fall victim to the fake customer service center scam. It starts from the observation that banking consumer relations are characterized by massification, impersonality, and complexity—especially when the contracting party is an individual—and that the digital transformation of banking services has increased the risks of fraud. The study analyzes the impact of the popularization of Pix, the main payment method in Brazil, and the growing sophistication of scams that use social engineering and spoofing techniques to deceive consumers and induce them to make transfers to their own detriment. In light of this scenario, the central question is whether banks, as service providers and part of the consumer chain, should be held civilly liable for such damages.The work examines the foundations of consumer protection in Brazil, highlighting the vulnerability of consumers—especially in the digital environment—the duty of safety, the risk theory of economic activity, and the basic rights provided by the Consumer Defense Code. It also addresses the security requirements in the provision of banking services, the concepts of defect and flaw, and the legal hypotheses for the exclusion of civil liability. Finally, it analyzes the conduct of financial institutions in response to the fake customer service scam, emphasizing that the prevailing jurisprudence of the Superior Court of Justice has recognized the strict liability of banks when there is a failure in service provision or insufficient security systems—except in situations where the exclusive fault of the victim is clearly demonstrated. The study employs a qualitative approach, with a deductive method, and is based on theoretical and descriptive research. It concludes that, given the consumer’s vulnerability, informational asymmetry, and the foreseeability of the scam, banks should be held liable—unless there is compelling evidence to the contrary—as a means of ensuring consumer protection in the context of the digital economy.