April in cyberspace: several people lost tens of thousands of euros to scammers

April in cyberspace: several people lost tens of thousands of euros to scammers
Photo: RIA

439 scam sites were detected in April, most of which were used for investment scams. According to the police, several people lost tens of thousands of euros to such scams in the past month, with the biggest loss recently being 220,000 euros (in Estonian). For more information on how to avoid investment fraud, visit the website itvaatlik.ee (in Estonian).

Last month, 201 phishing sites designed to steal bank and other account details were discovered.

The Incident Response Department of the Information System Authority (CERT-EE) restricts access to scam and phishing sites, informs web hosts about them, and shares information with its international partners. Information about malicious websites can be sent to [email protected]. 

In April, a lot of fraud calls (in Estonian) were made in Estonia, in which the fraudsters introduced themselves as Health Insurance Fund employees. The fraudsters claimed that it was possible to apply for a discount on the increased medical specialist visit fee from 1 April, and asked for personal information, including PINs, to claim the discount. The aim was to gain access to the bank account of the victim. RIA recommends that you immediately hang up such fraud calls and never share your personal data or PINs.

In April, many people in Estonia also once again fell victim to Facebook Marketplace scams (in Estonian). The scheme works as follows: the fraudster contacts the seller and expresses their wish to buy the goods. The ‘buyer’ then informs the seller that they wish to receive the goods by courier and sends the seller a link to a phishing site resembling the website of the courier company.

Once the victim has entered their details, as much money as possible will be taken from their bank card. The largest amount lost in this way was over 14,000 euros in April, according to police. Many more people lost thousands of euros.