Data from Finance Latvia Association (FNA) indicates: although the number of prevented financial scam attempts is higher than the number of successful scams, the money amounts stolen from residents are on a rise.
Authorities report residents in Latvia have lost EUR 9.6 million to various scams so far this year.
In October, clients of Latvia’s biggest banks lost EUR 1.7 million to various scams, according to FNA. The majority of this amount was stolen from residents using various phone scams. This once again proves how important it is for telecommunications operators to join this fight. Residents themselves should be more vigilant as well, and consider any offer related to finances very critically.
This year banks have managed to prevent a total of 4 676 phone scam attempts. Nevertheless, 2 496 scams were committed.
In the investment sector authorities successfully prevented 6 039 scam attempts. 3 177 scams succeeded.
Last month scammers succeeded in 373 telephone scams and stole EUR 850 thousand from residents. There were also 464 investment scam cases worth a total of EUR 652 thousand, as well as 79 other forms of manipulation, in which residents lost a collective amount of EUR 221 thousand.
“October was rather harsh when it comes to the amounts of money people were scammed out of. […] We can see there is a new type of scam – scammers nudge people towards withdrawing cash from their bank account and handing the money to some third party for “safe keeping”. Preventing such cases is not something banks can do. This is why residents should be very critical about all forms of financial offers – especially now that the holidays are coming up and the number of scam attempts will likely go up,” says FNA board chairperson Sanita Bajāre.
FNA notes that Latvian residents’ naive consent to becoming money mules, This is especially true for youngsters. Residents receive “fast” and “lucrative” offers and permit third parties use their bank accounts for illegal money transfers. Very small amounts are popular the most at the moment, as it is highly difficult to control this kind activity. However, residents should keep in mind that it will be very difficult to find the ones asking for a favour. On top of that, the money mule risks severe consequences, including criminal liability.
In the first ten months of the year, clients of Latvia’s four largest banks lost a total of EUR 9.6 million to various scams. More than EUR 4.6 million was stolen as a result of investment fraud. This data applies to cases when clients approved payments themselves.
Also read: 12 accused in «money mule» network case receive conditional prison sentences in Latvia
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