As many as 82 percent people in Finland avoid answering phone calls in fear of scams, according to a survey commissioned by OP Financial Group.
A total of 45% of Finns say they avoid answering calls from unknown numbers while 37% say they avoid answering calls from abroad, said OP in a press release on Friday referring to the survey.
Only 18% do not avoid answering calls in any way.
The survey result showed that scam calls are affecting Finns' willingness to answer phone calls from unknown numbers or those coming from abroad.
Young adults are particularly concerned. More than half of Finns believe they have received a scam call.
"Scams have become more common and are being talked about more than before. That's why it's understandable to feel concerned about answering phone calls. However, it's important to remember that when you're familiar with how your bank handles matters, you can confidently answer your phone. The bank will never ask for your user identifiers over the phone, and you can confirm the bank's call on OP-mobile," said Maija Ahonen, Fraud Prevention Specialist of OP Financial Group.
Scam calls are a significant concern for young adults aged 26–34 and older adults aged 65–79. Among these groups, only just over 10% are not worried about answering calls.
"Previously, older people were relatively more likely to fall victim to fraud than the younger population. Young people are particularly vulnerable to scams involving phishing for user identifiers and social manipulation. They may lack sufficient experience with how banks operate to recognise urgent requests as scams. When targeting older people through social manipulation, fraudsters exploit their trust in authority," the Specialist said.
Scam calls are a key tool used by fraudsters to phish for banking user identifiers. During these calls, fraudsters attempt to manipulate victims into disclosing their banking user identifiers and confirming payment requests made by the fraudster.
"Fraudsters' login attempts and credit transfers typically fail without payment confirmation, so during the call they try to persuade the customer to act according to their wishes."
In all, 53% of Finns suspect that they have received a scam call, with older Finns most likely to report having been targeted.
"Fraud prevention isn't solely the responsibility of banks and customers – it's a challenge shared by all stakeholders. Fraudsters exploit telecom operators, email services, search engines and social media channels in their scams. Preventing fraud should be a shared goal for all parties involved," the Specialist added.
Survey organisation Taloustutkimus conducted the online survey for OP in September 2025 where a total of 1,042 people in Finland over the age of 18 answered. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
- Finns
- Phone Calls
- Scam
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
