Fraud victims often trust scammers over police

Fraud victims increasingly refuse to cooperate with police because they believe the officers are scammers, ERR reported, citing Valmar Viitak, head of the serious crimes unit at the North Prefecture’s criminal bureau.

In some cases, a victim’s relative notices suspicious behaviour and informs police that the person plans to meet a stranger and hand over money.

Officers responding to the situation try to convince the person that they are being defrauded. However, the victim may completely deny what is happening or continue to believe they are carrying out tasks assigned as part of a secret police operation, Viitak said.

Some victims ask investigators who arrive at the scene to prove that they are police officers. Others ask for a so-called code word that the scammers have previously agreed with them. The fraudster tells the victim that the code word confirms they are speaking to the right people and that anyone who does not know it must not be trusted.

If the responding officer does not know the code word, the victim may take that as confirmation that the person is not a real police officer, Viitak said.

These cases are linked mainly to the spread of scam calls, which has increased in recent years. Scammers make several calls to create the impression that the victim has fallen victim to fraud and must follow instructions to save their money. They tell the victim that they have been recruited into a secret police operation and are helping catch criminals.

The scammers also say that the victim must not tell anyone what is happening because this could obstruct the investigation and lead to punishment. At the final stage, victims are asked to give cash, bank cards and documents to a courier or place them in a parcel locker so they can supposedly be inspected, Viitak said.

Victims sell homes and cars

In particularly complicated cases, victims have sold their homes or cars and handed the proceeds to the scammers.

The manipulation can last for days or weeks. During that time, the scammers try to build a relationship of trust, show interest in the victim’s daily life and create the impression that they care about the person’s wellbeing. Their aim is to make the victim feel that a trustworthy person who wants to help them is on the other end of the phone.

After a person has been under the scammers’ influence for a long time, it is generally no longer enough for a police officer to show an official identification document or say that the person is being defrauded, Viitak said. Victims are often sincerely convinced that they are doing the right thing, so it can take considerable time and explanation to change their minds.

Ede Raagmets, head of customer services at Swedbank, said there had also been cases in which a bank employee contacted a customer who suspected that the caller might be a fraudster. She said the number of such cases had increased slightly compared with the past.

Typically, a bank employee introduces themselves at the beginning of the call, after which the customer asks how they can verify that the call really came from the bank, Raagmets said.

Customers who are unsure can end the call and contact Swedbank’s customer service themselves to ask whether the bank had tried to reach them. The bank can also send a message to the customer’s online bank, where it can be read in a secure environment.

Police do not ask people who they call to identify themselves using Smart-ID or Mobile-ID.