Police warn of “hundreds” of scam messages that seem to be from Posti

Officers say the fraudulent messages can look authentic but that Posti would not ask for money, credit card details or bank IDs.

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File picture showing detail on police uniform / Credit: News Now Finland

The National Bureau of Intelligence is warning about a rise in fraudulent email and SMS scams in recent weeks.

Police have received more than 400 scam message notices since the beginning of March which advise the recipient that there’s an item waiting to be delivered by Posti which has been held up, for example, due to excess weight.

The scammers have been asking for a payment fee of €2 to be made online via credit cards and after this regular charges of tens of euros have started to appear on the victim’s cards.

“The number is considerable, as only a small part of the scams come to the attention of the police. The phenomenon itself is not new, as SMS scams have been on the rise for months now. Now, however, during the coronavirus epidemic, people are increasingly favoring online shopping, so the chance of falling victim to a scam has increased” says Inspector Mikko Rauhamaa from the National Bureau of Investigation.

Police warn that scam messages can look authentic, however warning signs include being asked to transfer money for an unexpected reason, or being asked to provide bank ID or credit card information - or being asked to click on links that look suspicious.