Scammers never stop – DNA has prevented 35 million scam attempts in four years

In late 2023, Finnish operators prevented the free use of Finnish mobile phone numbers for calls from abroad to Finland, which is why scam calls now mostly come from foreign country codes. As the number of scam calls has been curbed down, scammers are increasingly using text messages with scam links or subscription numbers that the scammers control. Remember that organisations can protect SMS sender IDs by registering them with the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency’s “SMS Sender ID” service.

Technological advances have also helped scammers, resulting in a growing number of scams. At the same time, they have become more difficult to identify.

“Scamming has become industrial, and scammers never stop.  DNA has prevented 30 million scam calls in recent years. In addition, we have been able to prevent several millions of fraudulent text messages in the past year and a half,” says DNA fraud prevention manager Ilkka Tuominen.

“When scams are weeded out from one route, scammers find new one. Scam attempts are so lucrative that, unfortunately, they cannot be eradicated. Scams are an international business, targeting places where they are the most profitable,” Tuominen adds.

It is important that people are aware of different scam techniques and know how to handle incoming messages with a healthy dose of criticism. Scammers personalise their communication and adapt the content of scams to different seasons and holidays, so being alert is essential.

“Passwords or banking credentials should never be disclosed, and senders and links should be checked before clicking anything. It is also good to remember that fraudsters take advantage of topical phenomena such as tax refund dates, sales, or even the upcoming Valentine’s Day. The e-commerce and package traffic associated with gift seasons always also activates scammers. Scammers try to match registered SMS sender IDs in many ways, including spaces or using lowercase and uppercase letters, so attention to detail is essential. Correct sender IDs have no typographical errors,” says Tuominen.

In addition to parcel delivery scams, scams are commonly sent disguised as messages from banks, tax authorities and the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency. Unfortunately, fraudulent messages also purport to be sent by operators.

DNA sends text messages only using its three registered sender IDs: DNA, DNA Kauppa​ and DNABusiness. The first is intended for communication to consumers and the second is for communication to businesses. Sender ID registration ensures that the customer can trust the message to originate from DNA. Others cannot use the same sender ID to trick the message recipient.

Companies should train their employees on how to operate in a secure way

“It is also a good idea to remember CEO and investment scams, where criminals impersonate a representative of the company and try to pressure employees to make payments. It is a good idea for companies to prepare their staff for situations like this,” says Tuominen.

Using banking credentials on different services can also expose your company’s information to leakage, especially if employees inadvertently authenticate themselves on fraudulent websites.

“You might think you are only authenticating yourself to use some service, but in reality, if you complete authentication on a scammer’s website, the scammer is already halfway into your bank account at that time. This is why we encourage you to use the Mobile certificate outside of banking business to authenticate yourself. It would be good for everyone to have two different authentication methods,” says Tuominen.

Media enquiries:

DNA Corporate Communications, tel. +358 44 044 8000, communications@dna.fi