In 2021, Telia stopped just under 37 million fraud calls, while the figure for 2022 was close to 77 million. There are markedly more fraud attempts against Norwegians than against Swedes, Finns, and Danes.
“We see that the difference is sometimes huge, and Norway is significantly higher in the statistics than both Sweden and Denmark, and miles ahead of Finland,” Øivind Kristiansen, a fraud expert at Telia Norge, stated, news bureau NTB reports.
Telia stopped almost 29 million fraudulent calls to Sweden, less than ten million to Denmark, and just over six million to Finland.
“It is difficult to say exactly what makes Norway more attractive to fraudsters, but good personal finances in the population and a high degree of trust in our fellow human beings can probably be part of the explanation,” Kristiansen said.
Hang up
Telia’s fraud expert advises people to hang up if they receive a phone call that they think seems suspicious.
“Never give your BankID information to anyone, no matter who asks. If you suspect that you are a victim of fraud, you should block your BankID,” he suggested.
In November last year, Norwegian mobile companies agreed to implement a blockade filter that prevents foreign criminals from exploiting Norwegian numbers in telephone fraud.
During November and December alone, this blockade filter stopped a total of 4.4 million fraud attempts against Telia customers.