Cases of €13m cyber scams reported to police in H1

Based on reports made to the police in the first half of 2022, proceeds gained from some of the most serious types of cyber-enabled fraud amount to around 13 million euros, Administrative Officer of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Marika Koskinen wrote in a blog post on Tuesday.

However, all victims of fraud did not report the crime to the police.

In cyber-enabled fraud, the main objective of fraudsters is to get money. They either receive money directly from victims who send it to them, or they find out victims' online banking codes so that they can empty the victims' accounts, Koskinen wrote.

The police blog post discussed the prevention of cyber-enabled fraud and the police are carrying out a project financed by the Ministry of the Interior with the view to increase the awareness of fraud against elderly people.

The project on preventing fraud against elderly people is coordinated at the NBI by Koskinen.

“Criminals keep coming up with new and more credible scams. Therefore, it is important to realise that different types of fraud basically follow the same pattern: A fraudster contacts you and, by saying it is urgent, tries to make you give your personal data, download remote control software or click on a fraudulent link. By claiming it is urgent, criminals want you to make careless decisions, the ultimate goal being to cause you to suffer financial loss,” Koskinen wrote.