Norway public warned over ID card phishing scam
Over 500,000 scam calls have been made to Norwegian numbers this week as part of a large phishing scam, mobile network operator Telia has warned.
Telia this week uncovered a massive volume of scam calls made to Norwegian mobile phone numbers.
The scam calls are being made from foreign numbers, which appear to be Norwegian at first glance because they begin with +47. However, they are actually foreign numbers as the +47 is followed by nine digits rather than eight, which is the standard for numbers in Norway.
When people pick up the call, they are told that there has been a security breach concerning their ID card and that the recipient of the call should “press 1 to continue”.
If they do press 1, they are forwarded to someone posing as a security professional, who is instead a scammer phishing for sensitive information.
“In the worst case, they will try and steal your money,” Øyvind Kristiansen, who works to prevent fraud at Telia, told broadcaster NRK.
Earlier this week, phone fraud was reported to be more prevalent in Norway than the other Nordics.
READ MORE: Phone fraud more prevalent in Norway than other Nordics
Telia said that on Thursday afternoon, it had managed to put a solution in place that should be able to block the majority of these incoming calls.
The network operator has said that it has seen this method of scam and a large volume of calls used before.
It also said it advised people not to provide sensitive information over the phone.
“If someone pretends to be your bank and seems suspicious, hang up and call the number the bank provides on its website,” Kristiansen advised.
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Telia this week uncovered a massive volume of scam calls made to Norwegian mobile phone numbers.
The scam calls are being made from foreign numbers, which appear to be Norwegian at first glance because they begin with +47. However, they are actually foreign numbers as the +47 is followed by nine digits rather than eight, which is the standard for numbers in Norway.
When people pick up the call, they are told that there has been a security breach concerning their ID card and that the recipient of the call should “press 1 to continue”.
If they do press 1, they are forwarded to someone posing as a security professional, who is instead a scammer phishing for sensitive information.
“In the worst case, they will try and steal your money,” Øyvind Kristiansen, who works to prevent fraud at Telia, told broadcaster NRK.
Earlier this week, phone fraud was reported to be more prevalent in Norway than the other Nordics.
READ MORE: Phone fraud more prevalent in Norway than other Nordics
Telia said that on Thursday afternoon, it had managed to put a solution in place that should be able to block the majority of these incoming calls.
The network operator has said that it has seen this method of scam and a large volume of calls used before.
It also said it advised people not to provide sensitive information over the phone.
“If someone pretends to be your bank and seems suspicious, hang up and call the number the bank provides on its website,” Kristiansen advised.
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