Scams

Contact the blocking service and your bank immediately if you suspect that you have forwarded your online banking credentials or payment card information into the wrong hands, if you notice suspicious payment transactions in your account, or if you suspect that you have been fraudulently tricked into paying money. In this way, further losses may be prevented and payments possibly cancelled.

If necessary, make a written complaint to the bank. You have the right to receive, on your request, a written response to your complaint within a reasonable period of time.

If you notice that you have been scammed, you should make a report on an offence to the police. Bringing scams to the attention of the police is also useful in fraud prevention work.

Victims of scams often receive a contact shortly after the scam is revealed, promising to help them recover the money they have lost. The contact may be, for example, a telephone call, email or letter. The contact person may present themselves as, for example, a representative of a public authority, bank or law firm. Typically, the assistance offered requires an advance payment or identification with banking credentials, which can result in a new scam and further loss of funds.

Information phishing is all unauthorised acquisition of financially exploitable information. Such information that criminals may seek to acquire includes online banking credentials, credit card numbers, passwords and other personal and account information. Information phishing is the most typical form of scam.

Phishing typically takes place via email, text message, telephone call or social media. Banks, other financial service providers, public authorities or other relevant parties do not request such information by telephone or email.

Follow these guidelines to protect your information:

• Do not give or share your personal or banking information over the telephone, by email or on social media.
• Do not supply or confirm your personal information if you are not sure about the party requesting it.
• Do not click on links you receive via text message, email or social media, or call a telephone number provided in a suspicious contact.
• Do not use your online banking credentials or log in to your online banking at the request of someone else.
• Do not enter your online banking credentials or log in to your online banking via a link you received in a suspicious contact.
• Always log in to online banking through your own bank’s website. Do not use search engines to find your bank’s online banking.
• Do not allow anyone to remotely connect to your device if you are not absolutely sure of the party in question.

An investment scam may be an attractive investment offer involving, for example, currency (forex trading), cryptocurrency or derivatives (for example, options) and which promises better than average returns for the investment in question. An interesting investment object or offer may be encountered, for example, on the internet or social media.

After an investment has been made, the provider may present the investor with a promising yield curve, and thereby entice the investor into making further investments. Problems are often encountered when the investor wants to sell their investment and cash out. The service provider may then disappear and stop responding to contacts. Alternatively, the investor may be requested to make an unexpected payment or other transfer before they can obtain the money back. Unexpected payment demands should be treated with caution. Transfers of money to the service provider should be stopped immediately when it is suspected a scam has taken place.

Before making an investment decision, it is worth considering why this particular service provider could offer a better return on investment than, for example, established and well-known service providers. It is also worth considering whether you understand what the investment involves. Be wary of favourable recommendations from previous customers on social media and/or the company’s website – they are likely to be fictitious. It is advisable to search extensively for information about the company from different sources.

Check the service provider’s authorisation

Investment services can be provided in Finland by companies authorised by the FIN-FSA or by companies authorised in another EEA country that have notified the FIN-FSA that they will provide their services in Finland.

Before making an investment decision, it is always worth checking on the FIN-FSA’s website whether the service provider is authorised in Finland or has notified the FIN-FSA of its intention to start providing services in Finland. It is also worth checking the warning lists on the FIN-FSA’s website.

Authorised service providers and the FIN-FSA’s warning lists can be found in the registers section of our website, https://www.finanssivalvonta.fi/en/registers/.

If possible, also check to exclude the possibility that a clone of a trusted operator is involved. Here are some ways to help with this:

• Don’t click on the links you receive on social media or via email; go to the service provider’s website via the official web address of the authorised service provider.
• Compare the contact information you receive with the contact information available from official sources. You can learn a lot by using online search engines, i.e. “googling”.
• Check the FIN-FSA’s warning list to see if there is a warning about a fake website, i.e. a clone, of the company in question.

You can recognise an investment scam by, for example, the following characteristics:

• The service provider has no authorisation or the authorisation certificate has been falsified.
• The investment sounds too good to be true.
• The investment offer comes via an unexpected contact, often from abroad and from a previously unknown party.
• The investor is rushed and pressured into making an investment decision.
• The investment offer is mysterious and exclusive, “just for you”, “limited edition”.
• The investor is asked for more money on various pretexts.
• The website does not have anyone’s contact information.
• The language menu on the website has the Google Translate language menu, i.e. the website is, in practice, available in all possible languages.
• The investment object is complex or difficult to understand.

Document scam refers to a traditional scam letter type of scam, where an official-looking letter or message is sent to the victim via, for example, email or social media channels. Assistance is often requested for the transfer of inherited or other funds from one country to another.

To this end, the writer asks the recipient to get in touch and promises significant compensation for their assistance. Prior to the transfer of money, the recipient is often asked to supply personal details. It is often requested that the recipient pay a sum of money to the sender as a kind of guarantee that the remainder of the money can be paid. Such requests for payment may be based on, for example, receiving a certificate of origin for money, currency exchange, repatriating money, paying legal fees or obtaining a central bank certificate.

Romance scams are a type of fraud in which the fraudster seeks to exploit the scam recipient’s emotions and trust for the purpose of obtaining financial gain or other benefit. These scams often happen in online dating services, social media or other online discussion forums. Recognising a romance scam can be difficult, because the scammer is often clever at manipulating emotions and trust. If a new online acquaintance asks you for money or presents a dubious explanation for some course of action, you should watch out and think carefully before doing anything.

More information about scams is also available from the services of other public authorities, for example at the following addresses:

• National Cyber Security Centre
• Police, cybercrime 
• Police, fraud 
• Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority 

See the EBA’s key security tips for consumers when choosing online or mobile banking services.