The fraudsters are finding new methods and are becoming increasingly cunning, we are to believe Thorbjørn Busch, head of the security department Fraud & Crime at Telenor.
– In Sweden, you can see that digital fraud is the biggest source of income for criminals. Fraud yields a far greater financial return compared to, for example, drug trafficking, he says to ABC Nyheter.
Busch refers to an SVT documentary where it emerges that in 2022 there were 5.8 billion Swedish kroner in income through digital fraud in Sweden alone.
– Drug trafficking and its turnover is far more risky and complicated for the criminals than digital fraud. In addition, they risk much longer prison sentences for drug dealing, explains Busch.
He states that, in the first ten weeks of the year, Telenor has blocked around 14 million SMS fraud attempts in Telenor’s network alone. He believes that SMS is the “hottest” thing for fraudsters these days.
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– We expect more crime on mobile phones in the future. Unfortunately, there is a lot of fraud that takes place via SMS. We suspect that organized criminals are behind much of the fraud, and we see that the criminals are always willing to go further, says Busch.
Many inquiries
He adds that his experience is that people have far more confidence in SMS compared to e-mails.
– Most of us have a mobile phone and use SMS. This allows the fraudsters to reach a wide audience. Most people are probably used to many more fraud attempts by e-mail than SMS. People are also used to SMS being more personal. There is also a greater expectation that you will reply more quickly to SMS, compared to e-mail, emphasizes Busch.
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Artificial intelligence is also of great help to the fraudsters when it comes to language.
Thorbjørn Busch in Telenor and has a lot of experience with the methods fraudsters try to trick customers with information or money. Photo: Telenor
– We see that a lot of bad language is still used in the scam texts, but it is starting to improve with the help of AI-generated content and text. The attacks become more accurate and authentic, as the tools improve.
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According to a nationwide Telenor survey from the last quarter of 2023, nearly 90 percent answered that they had received a fraud report.
– We get a lot of inquiries from people who are concerned, where they say that they have received an e-mail that is apparently from Telenor. They wonder if it is real or not. We try to the best of our ability to guide and give advice to create security. Fortunately, general knowledge has probably increased, I hear of fewer people being fooled by e-mails, says Busch.
– Will seem intimidating to most people
In total, Telenor stopped more than 300 million attempts at digital crime in the fourth quarter of last year.
Busch says that there is a lot of police fraud, meaning that the fraudsters pretend to be from the police.
– The more of these tools and layers the fraudsters put on, by combining several different manipulative techniques, the more credible the attack appears.
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The security expert believes that police fraud is a cynical method, where the fraudsters play on fear and stress. In addition, there is often an element of time pressure. Many of these scams target the elderly.
– The fraudsters inflict extreme fear on the victims, and appear very convincing. Often they are looking for your BankID to loot the savings account for money. The police shock is quite effective, shocking someone who has never had anything to do with the police. Getting a phone call where someone pretends to be from the police will seem very frightening to most people, says Busch.
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He goes on to say that the shock can impair our ability to reason logically, perhaps especially for older people who do not have the technical expertise that younger people have. He adds that the police would never call you in an attempt to instill fear.
– The fraudsters use the police shock for all it’s worth.
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Hang up if you are unsure
Busch then offers clear advice to the younger ones:
– I would encourage younger people to take a step forward and make digital security an everyday topic. They must talk to the elderly about the fraud methods that exist and what you can do to protect yourself against them. Not all elderly people are able to handle fraudsters on their own, he says.
Busch says that Ttelenor has established a close and solid collaboration with the police.
– These are brighter times, as we see that the police are prioritizing digital fraud in a completely different way now. We are mutually dependent on each other to bring the fraudsters to life.
In conclusion, he offers a piece of advice:
– Are you unsure of the sender? Take a step back, breathe and think about who this sender really is. Avoid clicking on links you are not sure about. Instead, go via the website you usually use. Then you are safe. If you receive a call and you are not sure who is on the other end, hang up. Instead, call back on the official number, urges Busch.
