Information security now!
Text message scams are around constantly, but they are also stopped in cooperation by the authorities and service providers. We also tell you about scams that take advantage of data breaches of booking systems, which have been a nuisance to hotel customers for a long time.
Topics covered in this week’s review
A large number of text message scams in the name of companies and organisations
Over the past week, there have been several text message scams sent in the name of different actors. What they all have in common is that they are phishing for online banking codes. In the text messages, the name of Terveystalo, Traficom or Fortum is written correctly or incorrectly in different ways and they contain links to phishing websites that look like the login pages of banks. The criminal hopes to get access to the victims’ bank account with the help of the online banking codes used for identification and to gain criminal financial benefit as a result.
The National Cyber Security Centre cooperates with other authorities, telecommunications operators, providers of internet services and banks to prevent online criminals from succeeding. The news reports in the media also help the general public to identify scams. The National Cyber Security Centre, the other authorities and commercial operators have at their disposal many ways of intervening in the different stages of a scam. If enough protection is not achieved with one method, they try a different one.
Online scams can be prevented by raising public awareness, intervening in individual scam cases and combating the means of scamming. Cooperation makes the operation of the criminals more difficult and produces information for international police operations that can stop the online scam in the end.
Data breaches of hotel booking services are fraudsters’ tools
Different kinds of frauds and phishing attempts sent in the name of travel reservation services have been reported across the world for several years.
We published a detailed analysis of data breaches of booking services and how the data obtained in them is used to scam customers who have booked accommodation. In the analysis, we go through the most common fraud types on the basis of the reports sent to us. What criminals are interested also in this phenomenon is financial benefit.
Register for the last Kyberala murroksessa (Cyber security sector in transition) webinar of the year.
What is Finland’s new national cyber security strategy like? What did the year 2024 look like in cyber security from the point of view of the authorities, the sector and security of supply? How do changing regulations at the level of the EU affect the operation of organisations?
These are some of the questions that will be discussed in the webinar organised by the National Cyber Security Centre, the National Emergency Supply Agency and the Finnish Information Security Cluster (FISC) between 9.00 and 11.30 on Tuesday, 10 December.
Recently reported scams
In this summary, we provide information about scams reported to the NCSC-FI during the past week.
What to do if you get scammed
- Immediately contact your bank if you have made a payment based on a scam or a criminal has gained access to your online banking codes or got hold of your payment card information.
- File a police report. You can file a police report online. (External link)
- You can also report the incident to the NCSC-FI.
- Instructions for victims of data leaks (External link)
Learn how to detect and protect yourself against online scams
ABOUT THE WEEKLY REVIEW
This is the weekly review of the National Cyber Security Centre Finland (reporting period 1 November–7 November 2024). The purpose of the weekly review is to share information about current cyber phenomena. The weekly review is intended for a wide audience, from cybersecurity specialists to regular citizens.