Criminals represent Finnish banks.
Scam messages are sent on behalf of different banks. Adobe Stock / AOP
There are a lot of different scam campaigns on the move again. Now, especially banking-related scams seem to be on the rise.
The scammers present the customer services of banks operating in Finland by sending e-mails alleging that suspicious activity has been detected in the account or that the account has been blocked. The messages are written in Finnish and their language is mostly good. Scam messages have also been circulating in the past in the form of text messages.
For example, a lot of scam messages circulate on behalf of OP, claiming that “the account will be automatically disabled for security reasons” if the message is not responded to. Some messages may state that the response time is only a few hours.
The message includes a link to a phishing site where the victim is being tried to fill out bank IDs. If you fill in your bank ID and provide a verification number, criminals will be able to access your account. Iltalehti previously reported about Noora filling out information about a scam site. An invoice for 6,000 euros had appeared in his account, which had not yet been approved.
This is what the scam message on behalf of OP says. Screenshot
Leading specialist of the Digital and Population Information Agency Kimmo Rousku last week, it also warned on its Twitter account about scams on behalf of S-Bank, the content of which was the same as on OP-related scams.
The images shared by Rousku show how the message is designed to resemble S-Bank’s own messages in terms of design, colors and logo. The message also includes a link to a scam site that asks you to log in with your bank ID.
“Authentication with a PIN table is more multi-step and in addition to your username and password, you will be asked to provide a ID for the PIN table and possibly also a text message confirmation,” the scam site says.
This is what the scam message presenting S-Bank’s message looks like. Kimmo Rousku / Twitter
Like the OP-themed scam, criminals try to get the victim’s bank IDs and use them to make money transfers.
Remember these instructions
It’s worth remembering that banks never send messages with links directly to the online banking login site. Banks also do not ask their customers for bank IDs in messages.
OP has distributed instructions for secure online banking. They are worth remembering to keep your personal information and money safe.
- Do not go to online banking via the link or search engine you received. The redirect to the login page in the message is a scam. You may also be taken to a scam page through the results of Google, Bing, or another search engine, so type the address into the address bar of your browser.
- Check the address. Always make sure you are doing business at the right address. Do not enter your IDs on a site that you cannot verify.
- Keep your credentials private. The bank will never ask you to provide your IDs via text message, telephone or e-mail.
- Do not open attachments in e-mails or text messages sent on behalf of the bank. Verify the authenticity of the attachments from your bank’s customer service.
- If an unknown person asks you to install a program on your device, don’t do so. Install the software you need through the app store on your device.
- Don’t confirm events you don’t know you’re doing yourself. Always read the confirmation requests carefully – if something doesn’t match, don’t confirm anything.
- Ask in case of doubt. If the contact or message is suspicious, contact your own bank before doing anything else.