Fraud in the Baltics: Phishing targeting predominantly local language speakers

TALLINN - Online fraud in the Baltics is characterized by phishing and the victims speaking the national language, according to SEB.

SEB's security chief Katlin Kukk noted that cyber crime is becoming increasingly widespread globally, with only countries where IT has not yet deeply integrated into daily life being less affected. Nasdaq's 2023 report revealed that the total loss from identified fraud schemes worldwide was approximately 485 billion dollars, making financial crime a multi-trillion-dollar issue.

"Phishing is the core of fraud, and proficiency in Russian amplifies the losses. In the Baltic countries, the primary type of fraud is data extraction through phishing, which involves SMS or emails from telecommunication companies, banks, courier services, or other parties, urging recipients to share their data via an attached link. These schemes are easy to prepare and target masses, always finding someone who clicks on the link and shares their information. For cybercriminals, phishing is particularly easy due to people's habit of performing multiple tasks quickly without scrutinizing the text," Kukk said.

In the Baltic region, cybercriminals mainly focus on two common schemes -- investment fraud and vishing, or voice phishing, where data is obtained through phone calls to access financial resources. According to SEB Latvia, vishing accounts for nearly two-thirds of the total identified fraud damages and also ranks first in Estonia. Lithuania shows the lowest losses from phone fraud. The reverse trend is likely due to language skills -- phone frauds are mainly conducted in Russian, and a significant portion of the population in Estonia and Latvia speaks Russian either as a native language or at a conversational level.

The average amount lost per victim in fraud schemes across the Baltic countries is 3,000 euros. In addition to phone fraud, investment fraud significantly contributes to this average, especially in Estonia. While in Lithuania, investment fraud constitutes almost 40 percent of total fraud losses, in Latvia, it accounts for less than 15 percent.

In Estonia, most cases involve clients who speak Estonian as their native language, constituting 65 percent of incidents, followed by Russian speakers at over 30 percent. Nearly half of the losses are borne by SEB's Estonian-speaking clients, with Russian-speaking clients contributing equally.

Most fraud cases occur in the 36-50 age group, followed by those aged 51-64 and over 65. The 51-64 age group suffers the highest financial losses, making up more than 30 percent of the identified losses. Although most victims are women, men lose more money, accounting for 53 percent of total losses.

In Latvia, most victims speak Latvian as their native language, and they also incur similar losses as those in Estonia. The rest are Russian-speakers. The age distribution of victims is relatively even across the 36-65+ age range, with the highest financial losses affecting pensioners. The majority of cases involve women, who also bear the largest share of the losses.

In Lithuania, 96 percent of cases involve Lithuanian-speaking people, who bear the same percentage of identified total losses. Most cases occur in the 36-50 age group, with the highest financial losses borne by those aged 36-64. Over 50 percent of the victims are women, although men lose more money to fraudsters.

"There are clear differences in victim profiles by country. While it is commonly believed that non-native speakers are more likely to fall into cyber fraud traps, the reality is the opposite. Most victims are native speakers of their country's language while also being capable of conversing in Russian," Kukk said.

The overview is based on SEB's Baltic statistics for the first half of 2024.