Scams have occurred on popular online shopping platforms.
The malware was downloaded from a page similar to the official app store. Illustration image. Riitta Heiskanen, .
The police are warning about malware installed on phones, which allows criminals to gain access to the entire phone.
The malware allows criminals to access e.g. online banking, which enables money to be transferred. Other passwords and login information stored on the phone are also at risk.
About ten cases are known to the police all over Finland. The combined criminal benefit is already hundreds of thousands of euros.
Hoax
Scams have occurred at least on Tori.fi and Facebook’s Marketplace platforms.
The malware has been installed on phones when users have downloaded the app from a source outside the official app store.
In practice, the person registering as a buyer of the traded product has asked the seller to download an application related to the delivery of the product. The application has been downloaded from a site imitating the official application store.
The police remind you that applications should not be downloaded from other than official application stores, i.e. the App Store or Google Play. When making purchases, you must follow the instructions and practices of the sales platform.
If you suspect that you have been the victim of a scam, notify your bank immediately and file a criminal report with the police.