In order to draw the public's attention to the ever-increasing risks of telephone fraud, Mastercard, in cooperation with the Finance Latvia Association (FLA), is organizing the campaign "Met nost!" (Throw it out!) during July. Its aim is to help citizens, with a special focus on the elderly, arm themselves with knowledge and stay confident to avoid falling into the trap of phone scammers.
According to the data compiled by FLA, 4,195 fraud cases were recorded in the five months of this year, and more than half, or 2,448 of them, were directly related to telephone fraud.
The number of telephone fraud attempts within one month tends to fluctuate between 300 and 500 cases. For example, in May of this year, 344 such cases were recorded, defrauding citizens of 647,874 euros. In total, in five months, telephone fraudsters managed to defraud almost 5.2 million euros from citizens' wallets, which is almost as much as during the entire year of 2023, when 5.8 million euros were defrauded.
Unfortunately, very often telephone fraudsters manage to defraud people over 60 years of age. Therefore, the organizers of the campaign will address seniors and their relatives, informing them of how to recognize phone scammers in time and encouraging them to stop any suspicious conversations immediately.
The slogan of the campaign "Throw it away!" calls for seemingly impolite behavior during a telephone conversation - to hang up or end the conversation, which is actually the most effective and easiest way to fight against a potential telephone scammer, says Armands Onzuls, advisor to the Finance Latvia Association:
"The time when our senior citizens went to the post office or asked their grandchildren to help them pay invoices on an internet bank are gradually becoming history. The lifestyles of the smart consumer are increasingly shared by the everyday life of the older generation, which has learned card payments well and is interested in online purchases. It is convenient and safe, but at the same time also requires caution, because aspects of digital financial security must always be kept in mind," emphasizes the expert.
Terezija Mackare, head of the Rīga Active Seniors' Alliance (RASA), agrees the subject is topical: "Financial literacy should be discussed in the same way as the principles of a healthy lifestyle – over and over again. Just as we clearly know from childhood that you should not let strangers into your home, nowadays you should not let strangers into your bank account, that is, under no circumstances should you share your bank details over the phone. A suspicious call is the time when you can safely afford not to be polite and hang up."
Announcing the start of the campaign, an opening event took place July 1, in which RASA members also participated. The seniors had the opportunity to meet Solvita Sļadze, deputy head of the Cybercrime Combating Division 2 of the State Police, who provided practical tips on how to protect yourself from phone scammers.
Well-known actors Olga Dreģe and Valdis Lūriņš will front the campaign, participating in the filming of a video series about the most typical techniques used by telephone fraudsters.
The progress of the campaign, planned activities, as well as informational materials, can be found on this Facebook page. This weekend, visitors to the LAMPA conversation festival will be abe to learn more at the Smart Buyer tent to test their knowledge and readiness in dealing with phone scammers with the help of an interactive quiz.
