Many digital scams would remain a business if the targeted person stopped for a moment to think about what they are doing. Experts tell us what kind of signs can indicate a scam.
Don’t become a victim of a digital scam. Experts tell us what kind of warning signs should make alarm bells ring. Adobe Stock
On Monday, Nordea organized an event where the views of experts working on digital and online scams were heard on what kind of scams Finns should be prepared for in the near future and ways to avoid the worst.
Director of Nordea’s personal customer business Sarah Mella says that scams in which the victim takes an active role are more common than ever. Mella and other experts point out, among other things, investment and security account scams and various romance frauds.
Mella reminds you to be careful when using bank credentials, because anyone can be scammed. For example, counterfeiters of bank and government websites are extremely skilled today.
– Even an expert may not be able to easily see right away what is a genuine site and what is not, Mella says and hopes that people will pay special attention to how they have ended up on a site that asks for bank credentials.
Fraudulent websites can be shut down as soon as possible within minutes after the information has reached, for example, the bank in whose name the fraud is being attempted. In the worst case, however, it can take even days to shut down the site.
“Hurry up”
Nordea’s fraud prevention expert Sara Helin points out that you should never be in such a hurry that you don’t have time to make sures. He emphasizes that banks never send their customers links that, when clicked, lead to an identification page.
Composure is an asset, especially when the contact has been surprising.
– Think about whether you came to the page via a link or from somewhere else. Think about whether the information makes sense and, if necessary, talk to someone else.
– If you are directed via a link to use your bank credentials, that is one of the red flags that can be, Helin says.
The crime police constable of the Central Criminal Police also reminds us of the same thing Marko Wilderness.
– If you are asked to identify yourself with online banking credentials, hurry up. Look what you’re doing. Or when you enter your credit card information, watch where you’re entering it, he underlines.
The story continues below the picture.
Composure is an asset when you receive a surprising contact. Antti Mannermaa
Check the account number
Erämaa reminds that the FI code at the beginning of the bank account number indicates that the account is Finnish.
– Foreign accounts are often used in investment fraud and love scams.
Banks also do not have any kind of security accounts to which the customer’s money is requested to be transferred for security reasons.
– If the bank finds that the customer’s money is at risk, the account will be closed. The customer never needs to transfer his money anywhere to safety, says Helin.
Accuracy is also required if a person receives a message from a surprising number in the name of their child – especially if the contact asks for money.
– If a child makes such a request, call the child first, Erämaa emphasizes.
Additional security from the mobile certificate
The mobile certificate can also be used to log in to many websites. Operators’ mobile certificates are secure tools that, in addition to a phone number, require a self-selected access code.
When using a mobile certificate, you will not have given your bank credentials when confirming your identity, if you happen to be on a scam website.
Primarily, however, Nordean Helin urges you to pay attention to how you ended up on a site that requires identification or login.
Use bookmarks, don’t google
Central Criminal Police’s Erämaa reminds us that the address field of modern web browsers functions as a search engine. If a person is going to go to Self-tax, for example, and writes the search term “self-tax” in the address line, he will quickly end up in the search results of the browser’s search engine.
When looking for an authority’s or bank’s page in the search engine’s search results, you have to be careful even then. Sometimes the first links offered are advertisements that have been embedded among genuine search results for money. Such a site linked to a search result ad may be fake.
– See if you go to the site through an ad. Even in one case, five of the first seven search results were wrong, says Erämaa.
Nordean Helin recommends saving all necessary sites that require identification in browser bookmarks to reduce the possibility of being scammed.
Thanks to the bookmarks, you don’t have to enter the address manually every time, and you don’t have to go to the sites so sensitively through the search engine results.
There are also known cases where fraudsters have obtained a domain name that is almost the same as the domain name of a genuine bank or service.
In such a case, a small mistake when writing the address may lead the user to a scam site, and entering bank credentials can be expensive.