Last year more than EUR 8.5 million were defrauded, while in the first four months of this year alone more than EUR 6.6 million have been defrauded.
In a Norstat survey commissioned by LSM.lv, 64% of respondents said phone scammers had attempted to defraud them within the last year. 27% said they had not experienced this, while 10% were not sure. 1,009 respondents were surveyed.
Men and women are equally likely to have experienced telephone scams. There were no significant differences in terms of age, but people aged 30-49 were slightly more likely to receive calls from scammers.
There are more pronounced differences between regions and by nationality.
71% of respondents in Latgale said that they had been contacted by phone scammers in the last year, while in Vidzeme this answer was given by 49% of respondents. In the Pierīga Region, 67% answered in the affirmative, 65% in Riga, 64% in Kurzeme and 56% in Zemgale.
The survey also shows that people of Russian or other nationalities (73% and 75% respectively) were more likely to have experienced attempts by phone scammers to extort money, while Latvians - 58%.
Data from the State Police on cyber fraud cases last year and in the first four months of this year show that voice phishing (vishing) is by far the most popular type of fraud in terms of episodes, victims and financial losses. Last year, more than 4,100 episodes were recorded, 820 people were victims and more than €4.58 million were lost. In the first four months of this year, 695 episodes of vishing have already been identified, 352 people have been affected and the losses have already reached more than €3.7 million.
Investment fraud was also popular last year, with 334 episodes recorded, 273 victims and losses of over €3.4 million. In the first four months of this year, this type of scam has also been popular, with almost €1 million defrauded.
Last year, more than €375,000 were scammed by fake text messages (smishing), €87,000 this year, and more than €66,000 and €47,000 respectively by phishing.
In total, more than €8.5 million was defrauded from the public last year, almost 5 300 episodes of fraud were recorded and 1,568 people were victims, compared to €6.6 million, 1,392 episodes and 787 victims in the first four months of this year.
