Be cautious online – cyber-enabled crime on the increase

3.4.2025 13.07

Blogi

A woman is sitting at her computer, with a picture of a camper van on the screen.

What is cyber-enabled crime?

Mikko Kiiski: From the point of view of the police, one of the most typical criminal phenomena related to the online environment is cyber-enabled crime. These cases often represent various types of fraud, where the damaged parties are deceived into disclosing their confidential information by the perpetrator posing as an authority or, for example, as an employee of a bank. Deception also typically occurs between private individuals, for example, by using various instant messaging services. Investment, CEO and romance frauds are also unfortunately common ways of committing cyber-enabled crimes. Other offence types include money laundering offences, which are often associated with the above-mentioned fraud offences and with the concealment or transfer of the unjust proceeds obtained from them beyond the reach of the authorities.

According to the situation report on cyber-enabled crime, Finns lost more than 80 million euros in major cyber-enabled frauds in 2024. More than 84 million euros worth of offences have been identified in police reports.

The police have reacted to the trend in cyber-enabled crime

Due to the above-mentioned developments, the police have started to enhance the prevention of cyber-enabled crimes both nationally and internationally.

The most visible measure has been the national Cyber-Enabled Crime Investigation Unit established at the Central Finland Police Department in the spring of 2024. The Unit focuses on the prevention and investigation of cyber-enabled offences and the preliminary processing of related criminal cases. Moreover, the Investigation Unit assumes responsibility for investigations in criminal cases specifically assigned to it. The operations have focused on issues such as extensive criminal cases of a precedent type in terms of their modus operandi, where significant criminal proceeds have typically been achieved.

Because the phenomenon of cyber-enabled crime is complex by nature and constantly changing, it has been important to establish and develop a national and international notion of the situation. The role of the National Bureau of Investigation together with the police units is highlighted in this co-operation. Establishing a notion of the current situation is also done in co-operation with other authorities and the private sector.

Police units have been appropriately set up to carry out investigative efforts, and they participate in the nationwide network concerning cyber-enabled crime. The goal of this is to ensure that criminal cases can be addressed without delay and that the damage caused by crime can be minimised. The police have access to the powers laid down in the Coercive Measures Act and the Police Act for gathering information and preventing crimes.

Network-type co-operation across police departments is emphasised in the prevention of cyber-enabled crime. Cyber-enabled crime is also often international, and therefore the Finnish police have actively conducted international co-operation to identify new ways of committing crimes and prevent them. The Nordic countries are particularly important in this co-operation, not forgetting the expert services available from sources such as Europol and Interpol, and the utilisation of these services.

Finland is a trailblazer in international cyber-enabled crime prevention. As an example, a very significant number of so-called scam calls have been prevented every month by means of technical solutions, in co-operation with partners. This practice has continued for years.

Moreover, the police have regularly communicated about harmful and commonly occurring cyber-enabled crimes, with the goal of influencing citizens’ awareness and preparedness. Examples include various communication campaigns carried out in co-operation with other authorities.

Preventing, detecting and solving cyber-enabled crime requires joint efforts

Co-operation is in a key role in combatting cyber-enabled crime. It is clear that the police cannot independently prevent this harmful criminal phenomenon, which is why there is extensive co-operation with various authorities and the private sector. Some of the key parties that can be specifically mentioned are telecom operators and the financial sector. One area that needs to be considered in the future relates to the legislation concerning the parties that are engaged in cyber-enabled crime prevention. This can ensure an appropriate and effective exchange of information to prevent crime.

From the point of view of the police, the most effective and purposeful approach is to continue to endeavour to prevent crimes and the damage caused by them, with the damage being typically of a financial nature. It is equally as important to enforce criminal liability in an efficient and purposeful manner when a crime is committed. This development work will continue systematically.

Excellent results in preventing online fraud in Lapland

Pälvi Suokas: Various phenomena reach the north with a delay. We noticed in Lapland about three years ago that online frauds, which had become more common in southern Finland, had also arrived in Lapland. The resources are scarce in the north, and the long distances spread the existing resources far from each other. Separate investigation teams had been set up further down south to investigate online crimes. This was not possible in Lapland, but in the spring of 2024, we decided to pilot a procedure where a few investigators from a team that investigated these cases could focus on looking into petty frauds and frauds.

As soon as the pilot work started, we saw the positive impacts in the form of a decrease in the number of police reports filed. By the end of 2024, the number of property crimes filed by the Lapland Police Department had decreased by more than 400 from 2023.

We concentrated on investigating the cases in an offender-focused manner on different online marketplaces. We found that there were often only a few persons behind the crimes, each of whom had committed dozens of frauds, the worst ones more than 60 frauds! Background information on the perpetrators revealed problems caused by issues such as intoxicants or gambling. During the pre-trial investigation, we referred these persons to various support services.

Discussions with the perpetrators revealed that criminals had the impression that the police were not interested in investigating these types of “minor” crimes, and they assumed that online crime could easily make money without concrete consequences. Now we are using our resources to quickly get in touch with persons who have strayed into crime, especially those who have done so for the first time.

Good experiences led to the expansion of efforts

After six months, at the end of 2024, we decided to expand our operations not only to Rovaniemi but also to the entire area of the Lapland Police Department. The investigators also expanded the investigations from fraud committed on online marketplaces to all cyber-enabled crime. One example are cases of the type “Hello, this is Jaana from the Police in Muonio”, in which criminals deceive injured parties into disclosing various information by pretending to be an authority.

We have also actively communicated about scam attempts and new types of scams. For example, the tip line provides us with quick information from citizens about various ongoing scams, and we can immediately report them on social media. Communication has clearly had a preventive effect. One good example are scams directed at persons named Sisko (in Finnish).

Investigation of cybercrime requires new kind of expertise and an ability to react quickly

Scams change constantly, or a repeated scam has been developed further in some way. Certain themes keep repeating based on what the current trends for people are. Now, in the spring, the sales season of motorhomes, caravans and machines will start again, which means that there will probably be some kinds of scams related to these. Unsuspecting people are sold things that the seller does not really have.

Quick action is important in these types of crimes. That is why we added workforce to the pre-trial investigation group of crimes at the beginning of this year. They extracted these types of crimes from police reports filed online. Victims of fraud often feel ashamed when they realise that they have been cheated. In these cases, however, the action by the injured party should also be swift, and it is always advisable to report the crime. Focusing on the pre-trial investigation has intensified the operations, as the necessary initial measures can be performed and, in the best cases, even the money swindled from the injured parties can be recovered. By the end of March 2025, the investigation team had recovered proceeds of crime in the amount of more than 135,000 euros.

The investigation of online crimes requires new kind of expertise from the police. For this reason, it has been a well-functioning solution to provide training to all investigators, not just to those who have been designated to online crime cases. Competence is partly acquired by doing actual investigation work. We have considered it important that crimes are mainly investigated by a pair of investigators, so that no specific expertise is left down to an individual investigator.

In Lapland, these frauds are handled by the head investigators alongside their own work. They are motivated and understand the time pressure associated with these crimes. The use of coercive measures by the head investigators has been a key factor in the investigations. We have also started to enhance co-operation with the Prosecution District of Northern Finland. It is important that the police investigation process is uniform throughout the area and that the same uniform approach continues in the consideration of charges.