Scammers impersonate child welfare and dental care services in phishing attempts

The Vantaa and Kerava wellbeing services region is warning residents about fraudulent messages sent in its name, targeting personal data through fake child welfare and dental care communications, reports Finnish public broadcaster Yle.

In the phishing attempts, messages falsely claiming to be from child welfare services use the subject line “Invitation to a hearing” and prompt recipients to log in to an online service. Dental care scams carry the heading “Reminder about your appointment!” and include a link to a fake patient portal.

Authorities stress that genuine appointment notifications from child welfare services never contain links. While sender names and email addresses may appear convincing, they often reveal the fraud. “We urge customers to be cautious with any suspicious messages. Do not open links or share personal information,” said Mira Kulonen, a security and preparedness specialist for the wellbeing services region, in a statement.

Residents unsure about a message’s authenticity are advised to contact the relevant service directly. Similar scams under the same regional authority’s name have been reported over the past year.