Estonian police received 1,816 reports of telephone and online fraud in the first half of the year, with total losses reaching €13.2 million.
According to the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), more than half of the reported incidents involved multi-stage phone scams in which criminals impersonated several trusted institutions during successive calls.
Fraudsters may initially pose as service providers before another caller claims to represent a bank or law enforcement agency. Jaagup Toompuu, head of the PPA’s fraud prevention and investigation center, said scam calls are continuing to increase despite greater public awareness of fraudulent schemes.
The schemes often rely on gradually gaining the victim’s trust before convincing them to follow instructions that put their money or personal information at risk.
Read more: ERR.EE
