Estonians lose 21 million euros to scams in nine months

People in Estonia lost 21 million euros to fraudsters in the first nine months of this year, ERR reported. That was about four million euros less than in the same period last year, when losses reached nearly 25 million euros.

April was the worst month so far, with fraudsters stealing more than four million euros. One company lost 1.7 million euros in a business email compromise scam, in which criminals use a fake account to tell a business that a partner’s bank details have changed.

The closure of more than 90 call centres in Ukraine over the summer has also affected fraud in Estonia. There were no phone scams in Estonia in August, said Police and Border Guard Board director general Egert Belitšev. He added that the investigation had identified Ukrainian officials linked to fraud schemes who provided protection to criminals.

Of the more than 20 million euros lost this year, only about one million has been returned to victims. Authorities have arrested 38 people in connection with the scams, most of them money couriers. Prosecutor General Astrid Asi said many were young people recruited through social media, often from outside Estonia. Some suspects were minors, but most were around 20 years old.

Authorities expect investment scams to become more common. These often promise unusually high returns and are presented as secret, exclusive offers, said Sandra Horma, head of fraud prevention at the Estonian Banking Association. Investment fraud caused five million euros in losses in the first nine months of this year.