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19.12.2024 13:41

Right now: Scammers are using new telephone schemes – how to identify them

Scammers are actively calling people, pretending to be from their bank. Since customers have become increasingly aware and alert of such scams, the scammers have come up with new methods of manipulation. Learn about their typical features and stay safe.

1. When a customer answers a call, a recording is played

It says that an attempt to make an international payment from the customer’s account has been detected. The customer is asked to make a selection by pressing a number in order to connect to an OP cooperative bank. Doing this will direct the call to a scammer.

  • Don’t respond to recordings like this. If you want to ask for help, call the customer service telephone number given on OP’s website. If the bank finds out that a customer’s funds have been compromised and fraudulent payment attempts are made from the account, the bank will close the account before contacting the customer. We will never ask you to interrupt a payment or transfer your money to a safer place over the phone.

2. “Confirmation messages” received during a scam call

These messages are meant to convince even the most sceptical customers that they are, indeed, contacted by the bank. The messages can be related to customer identification or payment confirmation.

  • The scammers imitate the bank’s security measures to confuse you.
  • When you are called from the actual OP, you can always request a confirmation with OP-mobile. There you can see who is calling you and from which bank. If the details shown on OP-mobile match the ongoing phone call, confirm your identification for Customer Service. You don’t even need to log in to the mobile app in order to confirm a phone call’s genuineness. So, pay attention to the method of confirming a phone call.

Example of a fraudulent “confirmation message”:


 

3. You are asked to identify yourself on a website

During the call, the customer gets a link to a website imitating the op.fi site in order to identify themselves using their online banking user identifiers. This is another way of trying to convince you about the genuineness of the call.

  • We will never ask you to enter your banking user identifiers anywhere during a phone call.
  • Whenever handling banking-related matters online, always check the address of the page very carefully. Our service is at www.op.fi.
  • Make sure that the site is working normally: check different menus and functions. Scam websites are usually very simple, and they don’t have the typical op.fi functions.
  • The only way to confirm a phone call is with OP-mobile - never on websites or through links.

4. Persuasive and friendly manner of speaking

Lately, scammers have been emphasising the customer’s right to choose and the voluntary nature of actions. This has been particularly typical of safety account scams in which the customer actually transfers their funds to the scammers’ account. The scammers emphasise that they don’t want to pressure you but let you make the decision for yourself. They tell you that they can help you open a new account where the money would be safe. In reality, this new account is not yours but the scammers’.

  • The bank will never open a new account for a customer on the phone in order to prevent funds from ending up in scammers’ hands.
  • If we detect that a customer’s funds are compromised, we will take preventive measures before calling the customer. We will never call you when a situation is acutely ongoing and ask you to take measures to prevent it.
  • If you are asked to take immediate action during a phone call, hang up the phone and call OP Customer Service or Deactivation Service yourself. We will always take preventive measures immediately, and we don’t need the customer’s authorisation for this. 

5. The caller has the customer’s personal information such as phone number, name and address

Showing that they know your personal information is one way for scammers to strengthen their credibility. In reality, they have not obtained this information from the bank’s systems; scammers obtain information from telephone directory services and online sources.

  • Use OP-mobile to make sure you are talking to a genuine OP representative. If you suspect that the call may not be genuine, you can simply hang up and call our customer service yourself.
  • We will never give out a customer’s personal information before the customer has identified themselves, because personal information is covered by bank secrecy. So, don’t believe the scam callers even if they appear to know various personal or banking-related information about you.

 We have actively warned our customers about scam calls.

If you suspect that you have been a victim of fraud

If you need help with assessing a doubtful situation or suspect that you have been a victim of fraud, call our Customer Service on 0100 0500 (personal customers) or 0100 05151 (corporate customers). Our Customer Service is open on Mon–Fri, 8.00–16.00. Outside these times, call OP’s Deactivation Service on 0100 0555; this service is open 24/7. Be sure also to call Customer Service during service hours to report the incident.