Following a year-long preliminary probe, Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) suspects a group of stealing hundreds of thousands of euros from about 70 elderly victims in Finland, it announced in a press release on Monday.
According to police, the crimes were carried out by telephone, with victims called from a number that appeared to come from Finland. However, the NBI probe — which was carried out along with other law enforcement agencies — found that the perpetrators tricked the elderly victims into transferring funds under threat of a computer virus attack.
Police suspect 13 individuals of aggravated fraud, aggravated money laundering, as well as fraud and attempted fraud.
Most of the suspects are Finnish, but some are from other countries. The probe found that the crimes were mostly committed in Spain.
Authorities in Spain apprehended some of the suspects in Costa del Sol last autumn and spring, following a request from Finland.
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Based on the findings of this probe, authorities have linked the perpetrators to similar crimes targeting people in other countries.
The NBI said there is reason to suspect the operation was sizable and well-organised.
"The perpetrators in Spain made fraudulent calls in Finnish — specifically to elderly people. The calls appeared to come from a Finnish telephone area code. The scam calls followed a script which aimed to trick victims into transferring funds to an unknown account. Among other things the perpetrators falsely told the victims that they had been hit by a virus attack," the probe's leading investigator, NBI chief inspector Janne Takkunen, said in the release.
The scammers managed to get more than 320,000 euros from 70 elderly victims, according to the NBI. Those funds were then moved to various accounts in Finland and abroad. Police found that the perpetrators had also transported cash from Finland to Spain.
However — with assistance from banks, local police and the National Bureau of Investigation's Financial Intelligence Unit — authorities were able to prevent the scammers from transferring around 385,000 euros to their accounts, and returned some of the stolen money to the victims.
Without that interference, the suspects' financial gain would have amounted to more than 700,000 euros, according to the NBI.
Police have now forwarded the case to the National Prosecution Authority of Southern Finland for consideration of charges.
The NBI noted that online and telephone scams are becoming increasingly professional and sophisticated. It said people should never give out their bank details by phone, SMS or email, for example. people should never transfer money to an unknown account via an app or internet link. The agency also advised people never to reveal their bank details or codes to strangers under any circumstances, as the methods used by fraudsters change constantly.
The NBI further advised people who suspect they are victims of fraud to contact their bank immediately to report the incident, and then to file a criminal report with police.
