Rise in online scams prompts warnings from Kaakkois-Suomen Osuuspankki in Finland

Kati Kivinen, the risk management director at Kaakkois-Suomen Osuuspankki, has observed a significant rise in online scams. “Every week, people come to the bank claiming they have been deceived,” she stated. Kivinen noted that a particularly prevalent form is the combination phishing scam, where fraudsters attempt to gather personal information through various communication methods. Scammers often initiate contact via text and follow up with phone calls, sometimes over several days.

The Finnish Financial Services Association has corroborated Kivinen’s observations, revealing that scams have notably increased in the first half of this year compared to the previous year.

Kivinen warned that anyone can fall victim, sharing the story of Antero Lattu, a local politician from Imatra, who was nearly scammed five years ago. The ordeal began when he received a convincing email from what appeared to be S-Bank, asking him to update his personal information. After clicking a link, Lattu was directed to a website that mimicked the bank’s official pages and even displayed his current account details. However, the site prompted him to re-enter his personal information.

Days later, Lattu received a call from someone identifying themselves as “Jaakko Salminen” from the bank’s technical support. Claiming there was an issue with Lattu’s banking app, “Salminen” requested Lattu’s key code credentials. Initially suspicious, Lattu complied, but his instincts kicked in when the caller mentioned that he would temporarily be unable to access his online banking due to technical adjustments. Realizing the situation was a scam, he ended the call and rushed to the bank, where staff confirmed that the fraudster had attempted to transfer thousands of euros to an account in Spain. Fortunately, the bank was able to stop the transaction before it went through.

Lattu’s experience serves as a cautionary tale: never click links in emails from banks.