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27.5.2021 08:32

Fake police officers scamming people

Fraudsters impersonating as police officers have contacted bank customers recently by phone, with the aim of obtaining online bank user identifiers and card details. We ask you to also inform family members, friends and acquaintances about fake police officers and the ways in which they can be recognised.

In this type of a scam, the victim is either called by phone or a person shows up at their door, claiming to be a police officer. The person impersonating a police officer often tells the victim that they are or will soon become subject to a crime, and that the police need their online bank user identifiers or card details in order to prevent the crime. The fraudster may also claim that in order to safeguard the funds, they must be transferred to the account of the police for safekeeping.

We remind all that a real police officer or bank will never ask for online bank user identifiers or card details. If this happens, it’s always a scam, and such information should never be disclosed to anyone asking for it.

If you are contacted by the police or a person claiming to be a police officer, you can verify their authenticity in the following ways:

  • Ask the person’s name and the police station where they work. Call them back through the police switchboard.
  • The switchboards of police stations can be found online at www.poliisi.fi. 
  • If a person claiming to be a police officer shows up at your door, ask the person to show their badge before letting them in. A real police officer will show their police badge on request and let you view it carefully.
  • If a person claiming to be a police officer calls you or shows up at your door and asks for your banking details, call 112.

 

 

If you suspect that you have disclosed your online bank user identifiers or card details to fraudsters, do as follows:

  • Immediately deactivate your user identifiers by calling the OP Customer Service on 0100 0500 (Mon–Fri 8–16).
  • Outside Customer Service hours, deactivate your user identifiers by calling the Deactivation Service on +358 (0)100 0555 (available 24/7).
  • Be sure to also call our Customer Service during service hours to report the incident.
  • Report the offence to the police.

Prepare in advance:

  • Discuss the threat of fake police officers, especially with your elderly family members.
  • Fake police officers usually contact their victims by phone. Consider with your elderly family members whether it is a good idea to have their phone numbers available through number services or whether the numbers could be made secret.
  • Another but a slightly rarer type of a fake police officer scam is the fake relative scam in which an older person is called and told that their relative is in trouble and urgently needs money. The money is asked to be transferred to an account that has not previously been used by the relative in trouble.
  • Some older people are also vulnerable to different types of subscription traps in which they are deceived to subscribe to products or services that they do not need or which do not necessarily even exist.