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Financial fraud surged in both Finland and Latvia in 2024, with banks preventing millions in losses but cybercriminals still managing to defraud significant sums, according to industry reports.
In Finland, fraudsters attempted to steal €107.2m from victims last year, a 39 percent increase from 2023, when the total stood at €76.9m.
According to the Finnish Financial Services Association, the country’s banks successfully stopped and returned €44.3m in fraudulent transactions, which is 35 percent more than the previous year.
However, cybercriminals still managed to steal €62.9m, with phishing scams emerging as the most common and costly form of fraud, up 161 percent from the previous year.
Investment scams also took a heavy toll, with victims in Finland losing €20.1m, the trade association warned.
Although the figures suggest that the number of romance scams declined last year, they were often reclassified as investment frauds, as scammers lured victims into fake investment schemes.
In Latvia, in contrast, authorities noted a rise in romance scams. Although only 19 cases were officially recorded, the total amount stolen exceeded €260,000, and each victim lost an average of €14,000, with women aged between 40 and 60 the most common targets.
The Financial Industry Association (FNA) highlighted how romance scammers maintain long-term contact to build trust before defrauding victims over several months.
Small, repeated transactions make it harder for bank security systems to detect fraud, contributing to significant overall losses.
There were positive signs in early 2025, however, and the trade association says that Latvian banks prevented €646,283 in fraudulent transactions in January alone — narrowly exceeding the €636,158 that scammers managed to steal.
