70% Finns targeted by attempted payment fraud: Survey

The majority of people in Finland has recognised being targeted by attempted payment fraud or phishing, according to a survey commissioned by OP Financial Group.

The survey result showed that around 70 per cent of people in Finland say that they have recognised by being targeted by payment fraud.

The most common tool for fraud is typically email, and almost half of people in Finland have fallen victim to an attempted fraud through email.

Then the most common methods are contacting through an SMS or social media, and making a phone call. A quarter of people in Finland say that they have received a scam phone call.

"Preventing fraud is a shared challenge for all actors. For example, providers of email services transmit phishing messages, search engines offer deceptive websites to information seekers, and social media platforms enable criminals to market non-existent investment opportunities in their marketing services", said Kim Sirén, Head of Fraud Management at OP Financial Group.

By and large, fraud is based on the criminal impersonating an authority or a representative of a reliable company.

A total of 61 per cent of fraud victims have encountered such scams.

"In fraud attempts, a large number of scam messages are usually sent in order to reach a sufficient number of people. Nowadays, more subtle fraud attempts also occur, such as impersonating a victim's friend or family member, but only 8 per cent of fraud victims in Finland have encountered such scams," Sirén added.

In Finland, concern about fraud is particularly high among older age groups.

A total of 56 per cent of the respondents are very or quite concerned about becoming victim of payment fraud or phishing while 65 per cent of those aged over 65 years felt the same.

Older people are also the only age group more concerned about themselves than their friends and family when it comes to falling victim to fraud.

"Fraud crime has many socially significant side effects. Fraud crime supports the growth of gang crime, as the proceeds from fraud are also used to acquire tools for committing crimes, such as firearms and digital devices for carrying out cybercrime," said the OP bank official.

Increased fraud has also been identified at the EU level, where a directive to facilitate fraud prevention is being prepared.

The survey carried out by Taloustutkimus from April 15 to 17 interviewed 1,100 people aged over 18.