Phone Frauds in Estonia: Victims Suspect Police, Trust Scammers
The head of the Northern Police Prefecture's Criminal Bureau warns: fraud victims often refuse to cooperate with police officers, believing that the actual scammer is the official.
Fraud Victims Trust Scammers More Than Police
According to Google News EE — Crime, cases have become increasingly common in Estonia where a police officer attempts to warn a fraud victim, but the victim refuses to cooperate — convinced that they are actually speaking to a scammer. Valmar Viitak, head of the Serious Crimes Division of the Northern Police Prefecture's Criminal Bureau, described what such situations look like.
According to Viitak, there have been cases where someone close to the victim notices suspicious behaviour and alerts the police. When a patrol arrives, they try to explain the situation to the victim — but the victim either completely denies the fraud or is convinced that they are carrying out tasks assigned to them as part of a secret police operation.
"Police officers responding to the incident try to convince the person that this is fraud, but the victim either denies what is happening entirely or continues to believe that they are carrying out tasks assigned to them as part of a secret police operation," Viitak noted.
Code word as an instrument of trust
Scammers also use a previously agreed code word. The victim is told that with this code they can verify that they are communicating with the right people — and those who do not know it are not trustworthy. If the police officer who arrives does not know the code word, the victim interprets this as evidence that this is not a real police officer.
Manipulation can last several days or weeks. During this time, scammers build a trusting relationship with the victim, show interest in their everyday life, and give the impression that they care about their wellbeing. In the final phase of the scheme, the victim is asked to provide cash, bank cards or documents to a courier or take them to a parcel locker.
"If a person has been under the influence of scammers for a long time, it is usually no longer enough for them if a police officer shows an ID card or says that it is fraud," Viitak said. In particularly serious cases, victims have sold their home or car and given the money from the sale to scammers.
Banks and Postal Services: Suspicion on Both Sides
Ede Raagmets, customer service manager at Swedbank, noted that there have also been cases with bank employee calls where a customer suspects fraud. According to him, the number of such incidents has increased slightly compared to previously.
In case of suspicion, Raagmets recommends ending the call and calling back Swedbank's customer support number yourself. The bank can also send a message to the client in their online banking, where they can view the message securely. A bank employee will never ask for PIN codes over a phone call or ask you to enter them anywhere.
Agne Teder, Communications Manager at Omniva Estonia, said that fraud schemes exploiting the Omniva name appear from time to time. "On some days we do not receive any such inquiries, on other days there can be a dozen," he said. Such inquiries increase the workload of customer support because people want to check whether the message or call they received really comes from Omniva.
Warning Signs and First Steps After Fraud
When receiving calls from unknown numbers, one must be careful. Clear warning signs are: the caller pressures you to act quickly, forbids you from telling those close to you about it, and asks you to confirm something with PIN codes or transfer money.
The police do not involve citizens in secret operations and do not ask them to identify themselves via Smart-ID or Mobile-ID during a phone call. The scammer's goal is to isolate the victim from the surrounding world so they can be influenced more easily.
If you become a victim of fraud, the first step is to call your home bank, close your cards and have transfers blocked. Then you must file a report with the police and include all available evidence that will help the police assess the extent of what happened.
Source: Google News EE — Crime (et)