Batut Warns of Scam Calls Demanding Package Payment
Batut warns that unknown callers, mostly targeting older citizens, are demanding money to sterilize a medical package. Here is what to do if it happens to you or your family.
Is someone calling you in the name of the Institute Batut, asking for money for a package? Don’t hand over a single dinar. No such program exists.
The Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut” issued a statement on September 16, 2026, warning about a new phone scam making the rounds. Unknown callers are reaching out to citizens, mostly older people, and posing as couriers delivering medical packages supposedly donated by the Institute itself. To get the package, the person on the other end is told to pay money first, ostensibly to “sterilize” the package and its contents.
The Institute spoke up after media outlets reported on the calls, and made clear it has nothing to do with them.
The Institute of Public Health of Serbia does not run any campaign to give away, sell or distribute medical packages.
How to Spot This Call
- someone calls you claiming to be a courier delivering a package
- they say the Institute Batut is sending you a gift, usually a medical package
- they ask for payment before delivery, supposedly to sterilize the contents
- they pressure you to decide right away, while you’re still on the phone
What to Do
- hang up, no explanation or argument needed
- never give out a card number, national ID number or address over the phone
- check with a family member before paying anything
- report the call to the Ministry of Interior
What Not to Do
- don’t pay money because of a phone call
- don’t trust a call just because it mentions a well known institution
- don’t share personal information with an unknown caller
The Institute also urged citizens to report every such call.
The Institute of Public Health of Serbia appeals to citizens that if they receive a phone call offering a package or service in the Institute’s name, along with a request for any kind of payment, they report the case to the Ministry of Interior.
The Institute believes its name is being misused to obtain illegal financial gain, and that is itself the clearest sign that a package offered to you over the phone was never really theirs to give.
The best defense is a conversation ahead of time. If you have parents or grandparents living alone, tell them that the Institute Batut does not hand out packages this way, and that they should never pay an unknown caller. One short talk today can prevent a financial loss tomorrow.
