Several cases have come to the attention of the police in which individuals have been approached through Google Meet or another video call application by a person impersonating a Finnish police officer. The cases appear to target particularly immigrants residing in Finland. The video calls have been conducted in English and Finnish.
In the video calls, the criminals attempt to obtain banking or personal details by, for example, requesting the target person to show a payment card or identity document to the camera. In some cases, the criminals may have threatened victims with, for example, the closure of bank accounts, arrest or deportation, should the individual fail to disclose their details.
The Finnish police do not make video calls to members of the public. In Google Meet, calls from unknown parties can be blocked by adjusting the settings to allow calls only from one's own contacts.
The police, banks or any other legitimate organisation will never request banking or identification details by telephone or video call. The police urge members of the public to exercise caution whenever an outside party requests such information.
If you suspect that you have disclosed your personal details or transferred funds to a criminal party, contact your bank without delay. Subsequently, file a criminal report.
