There is a crime that the victim is not the first to call the police

The financial sector warns of fishing scams. Inka Soveri

Phishing was the most common type of scam at 2024, and the number of cases reported increased by more than 160 percent from the previous year, says the Finnish Financial Association.

Finns lost nearly EUR 32 million in Phishing -related scams last year. The figure does not include cases that are not reported to the bank.

In total, more than EUR 107 million was cheated on Finns last year, where banks were stopped and returned over EUR 44 million.

“In a hurry you may not have time to think”

One of the most common methods used by cheaters is to appear as a bank representative or as an authority, either via SMS or on the phone. Criminals seek to use the trust of Finns, fishing, among other things, bank IDs.

In a typical fisheries scam, the victim receives a call from a bank safety expert in the bank who says that the bank is subject to a wide cyber attack. After that, the cheater recommends transferring the customer’s assets to the security account in the reach of criminals. For the transfer, he asks the victim’s bank information and informs you to accept the login.

– In a hurry, you may not have time to think more closely. Under no circumstances, the bank does not need the customer’s IDs to secure any money, the Director of Fraud and Crime in the Federation of Finnish Financial Services Niko Saxholm reminds us in the bulletin.

According to Saxholm, the stories and practices of cheaters change so quickly and often that banks and authorities cannot warn the content of the scam.

“It is important to be awake if the message requires the customer to urgent action and think about whether this is really that hurry,” he points out.

If you suspect you have given your bank ID to the criminals, you should call your bank immediately. It is only advisable to contact the police until after that, as the crime report is more urgent to stop the money.