This is how you protect yourself from online scams

By remembering the three Vs, you can protect yourself from online scams.

There are many different scam campaigns. Adobe Stock / AOP

Last year, Finns were cheated out of about 47 million euros and 2,500 reports of online scams were made to the police. This year too, there have been a huge variety of scam campaigns that have tried to fish for Finns’ private information or gain access to accounts.

The purpose of the “Be careful, make sure, warn” campaign by authorities and companies is to instruct Finns in combating and preventing scams. The topic was also visible at the Suomi-arena event organized in Pori.

The three V’s of the campaign are easy to remember, and they can go a long way. What they mean is explained below.

BEWARE of suspicious messages and contacts:

  • links in text messages or e-mails.
  • Unexpected phone calls in the name of IT support.
  • unexpected phone calls from the bank, police or other authorities.
  • links suggested by the search engine to the websites of banks or authorities.
  • surprise wins or raffles popping up on the website.

MAKE SURE where the contacts are coming from and that you log into the services the right way:

  • who the message or call came from. Banks and authorities rarely call unexpectedly. Make sure that the call you receive is definitely from the person on whose behalf the caller presents himself.
  • that you always log into the online bank or the authority’s service through the correct website. The surest way to get to the right page is to write the direct address of the company or authority in the address field of the web browser (for example, orgössö123.fi/com). You can save the address as a bookmark. You can also use an application provided by a bank or authority.

WARN others about scams too:

  • your bank if you’ve lost money or you realize you’ve given your information to fraudsters. Contact the bank immediately and tell them what has happened. In this way, the bank can try to prevent misuse of your credentials.
  • preferably through written channels of the company or authority in whose name the scammer has approached you
  • your loved ones so that they know how to watch out for scams
  • others by reporting a crime to the police.

Kuluttajaliitto has also put together comprehensive instructions to protect yourself from various scams. You can get to know the content here.

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