Norway at the top of phone fraud in the Nordics
In 2021, Telia stopped just under 37 million fraudulent calls, while the figure for 2022 was close to 77 million. There are significantly more fraud searches against Norwegians than against Swedes, Finns and Danes.
– We see that the difference is sometimes very large, and Norway is significantly higher in the statistics than both Sweden and Denmark, and miles ahead of Finland, says Øivind Kristiansen, fraud expert at Telia Norway.
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 finances in the population and a high degree of trust in our fellow citizens can probably be part of the explanation, says Kristiansen.
Telia’s fraud expert advises people to hang up if they get a phone they think seems suspicious, and instead to call the company or actor they claim to represent.
– Also, never give your BankID information to anyone, regardless of who asks. If you suspect that you have been exposed to fraud, you should block BankID, he says.
In November last year, Norwegian mobile companies agreed on a block that prevents foreign criminals from using Norwegian numbers in telephone fraud.
During November and December alone, the filter stopped a total of 4.4 million fraud searches for Telia customers.