Scams, Fraud & Money Recovery
After a scam in Iceland: report to Lögreglan (Icelandic Police), claim a refund under Lög um greiðsluþjónustu (PSD2 transposition), and escalate free to Úrskurðarnefnd um viðskipti við fjármálafyrirtæki if your bank refuses.
Covered in this guide:
Iceland's scam-recovery system runs across three institutions. Lögreglan (Icelandic Police) investigates cybercrime under Almenn hegningarlög nr. 19/1940 §§ 228–229 (privacy), 244–246 (theft, robbery), 250 (fraud), 251 (data fraud). CERT-IS provides national incident response. For the money side, Fjármálaeftirlit (Central Bank of Iceland Financial Supervisory Authority) supervises banks under Lög um greiðsluþjónustu (Payment Services Act, Lög nr. 114/2021) — Iceland's PSD2 transposition via EEA. Consumer disputes escalate to the Úrskurðarnefnd um viðskipti við fjármálafyrirtæki (Consumer Complaints Committee against Financial Undertakings).
Emergency: 112. Non-emergency police: 444 1000.
Key Laws
Almenn hegningarlög nr. 19/1940 (Penal Code)
Lög nr. 19/1940, with amendments
§228 (defamation), §229 (privacy / image-based abuse), §244–246 (theft, robbery, embezzlement), §250 (fraud — sviksamlegt athæfi), §251 (computer-related fraud — tölvuglæpi). Penalties up to 6 years' imprisonment for serious offences.
Lög um greiðsluþjónustu nr. 114/2021 (Payment Services Act)
Lög nr. 114/2021 — PSD2 transposition via EEA
Icelandic PSD2 transposition. Unauthorised electronic transactions: bank must refund by end of next business day unless reasonable grounds to suspect fraud by user. Customer liability cap of ISK 6,500 unless gross negligence.
Lög nr. 90/2018 (Data Protection Act, GDPR-equivalent for EEA Iceland)
Lög nr. 90/2018
Iceland's GDPR-equivalent. Regulator: Persónuvernd. Same data-subject rights as GDPR (access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection).
First 24 Hours After Being Scammed
Three jobs in parallel. Call your bank's fraud line — under Lög um greiðsluþjónustu (PSD2 via EEA), the bank must refund unauthorised electronic transactions by end of next business day. Customer liab...
Reporting Cybercrime to Lögreglan and CERT-IS
Cybercrime in Iceland is investigated by Lögreglan (the Icelandic Police). Reports are made online at logreglan.is or by phone 444 1000 (non-emergency). National incident response is provided by CERT-...
Recovering Money from an Icelandic Bank
Iceland's money-recovery framework is two-step. Step 1: bank complaint. Under Lög um greiðsluþjónustu nr. 114/2021 (PSD2 via EEA), refund of unauthorised transactions by end of next business day; cust...