Prime Minister's Office Flags a WhatsApp Fraud Trading on Montenegro's Name as a Health-Ministry Debt Scam Spreads by SMS
Luís Montenegro's office has warned of a fraud circulating by WhatsApp and email in his name, asking people to sign a bogus 'confidentiality agreement' — even as a separate SMS scam impersonating the Health Ministry demands payment for fictitious hospital debts.
The office of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro has issued a public warning about a fraud attempt that is using his name to deceive members of the public. According to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office (Gabinete do Primeiro-Ministro), messages are circulating by email and WhatsApp that invoke both the prime minister and his chief of staff, inviting recipients to fill in and sign a "confidentiality agreement" (acordo de confidencialidade) that has no legal validity whatsoever.
The office said it had already lodged a complaint with the competent authorities so that the matter can be investigated, and urged anyone who receives such a message to disregard it. No government department asks citizens to sign confidentiality documents through informal messaging apps, and officials stressed that the communications are not genuine.
A second scam in the health system's name
The alert lands amid a broader wave of impersonation scams targeting Portuguese residents. A separate fraud has been circulating by SMS in the name of the Ministry of Health (Ministério da Saúde), telling recipients they owe money for a hospital emergency visit. One example flagged to the consumer complaint platform Portal da Queixa (Complaint Portal) read: "You have a debt from emergency care of €46.70. You have up to five days to settle the amount," with the sender disguised as "MIN.SAÚDE."
The messages supply a bank reference for immediate payment and lean on a short deadline to create panic. The tactic has worked on some recipients: one person reported paying €14.35 after receiving what looked like an official charge. By mid-June the platform had logged around 30 complaints about the scheme, which it said first appeared in 2025 and "continues to gain expression," showing growing continuity and sophistication. Authorities had earlier warned of a related March campaign that promised fake reimbursements in order to harvest personal data through malicious links.
How to protect yourself
Neither the Ministry of Health nor the National Health Service collects debts by text message with a five-day ultimatum. Anyone receiving such a message should avoid clicking links or transferring money, and should verify any alleged charge directly through official channels — a local health centre, the hospital concerned, or the SNS 24 helpline (the National Health Service 24-hour line). Suspicious messages can be reported to the police and to Portal da Queixa.
For Portugal's large foreign community, the advice is the same as for any resident: treat unsolicited demands for payment with suspicion, especially when they arrive by SMS or WhatsApp, reference an urgent deadline, and invoke a senior official or a ministry by name.
Sources: Observador, Público, Notícias ao Minuto.
