Close to a million was taken last Thursday alone. "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) last Thursday alone received over 40 reports of 44 phone and online scams, which saw €900,000 stolen from victims.

Unlike in many previous cases, the current scammers, while based abroad, tend to speak fluent Estonian and, using a wide range of concocted tales, persuade a victim to hand over their first PIN code.

This is followed by a follow-up call, purporting to be from the bank and even informing the individual they have been the victim of a scam and usually asking for the all-important second PIN.

"Typically, a 'bank employee' calls the individual, saying that they have been scammed, and from that point they start driving up the person's emotions, so as to diminish their reasoning. Speed is of the essence for ths scammers, such that the person can't think or take a pause," said Jaagup Toompuu, team lead at the PPA's Central Criminal Police.

This means the alarmed victim often enters their PIN-2 codes, and during this call, the scammer uses this access to steal money from the victim's account, or to sign loan agreements. Elderly people in particular can also be tricked into physically handing over cash or their bank card, with a scammer traveling to their home to collect these or instructing them to send these to a parcel machine, and how to do this.

The banks themselves use monitoring systems that allow them to intervene in suspicious transactions and prevent fraud, but sometimes the victim is tied up with the scammer at the very moment their bank is trying to alert them to this. Sometimes the bank successfully blocks an account unilaterally before things go too far.

"Where necessary, we contact the client. But very often there have been cases where we simply can't reach the client as the client is speaking to the scammer at the same time. Then we take matters into our own hands and block everything immediately. Over nine to 10 months, we've already prevented a seven-figure amount," SEB Security Center head Kätlin Kukk told "Aktuaalne kaamera."

Both the banks and the PPA stress that no legitimate financial institution will ever ask a customer for their PIN codes over the phone.

As well as banks, scammers make calls posing as government agencies, courier firms, electricity and other energy suppliers, or as telecoms firms like Telia.

One of the largest losses suffered by a private individua was recorded this week when a 70-year-old Harju County man fell victim to an investment scam and lost a total of €650,000.

But schemes have become so sophisticated that it is not only the elderly and vulnerable who have been caught out; others such as company directors and otherwise cautious individuals have also found their accounts drained, "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported.

Catching the scammers is a high priority for the PPA, complicated by the organized nature of the fraudulent activities and their being based in different international jurisdictions.

"The callers are organized from abroad; we mainly catch those who transport the funds, here. But our main aim is to get to the people who actually organize this. And that would involve very extensive international cooperation," Toompuu said.

But ultimately it also comes down to members of the public being alert and aware of the phenomenon. Without them handing over PIN numbers and other sensitive information or items, there can be no livelihood for the fraudsters.

Adrian Venables, head of TalTech's cybersecurity program, noted: "I think the key method to defeat them is education; understanding that when someone phones you, contacts you, emails you, and they want something – they want money, and it's not expected, then you need to stop, and think. A genuine organization will not mind if you say 'ok, thankyou for letting me know, I'm gonna go away, check, go to the police, I will go to the organization'."

"What we have been seeing in the vast majority of cases — I think over 90 percent of them — is that all these transfers are confirmed by the client, all access has been granted by the client," SEB's Kukk said.

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