The league was revealed in SVT's Mission: Investigation last spring, which, with the help of material from an unknown hacker, was able to show how the scammers deceived pensioners out of money. Everything was also sent to the police, and in the spring of 2024, four people were arrested on suspicion of participating in the fraud.
According to the indictment, 73 elderly people in the country have been deceived out of more than 12 million kronor. Seven others have been subjected to attempted fraud.
Sms about mobiles
When the trial began on Monday, none of the plaintiffs were present. However, several were able to tell their story over the phone about what they had gone through – including a 65-year-old man who testified about how he received an SMS saying he had ordered two phones. Since he hadn't ordered anything, he called the number in the SMS.
I'm very stressed and think it needs to be sorted out. I'm not very good with computers and stuff, and I want as much help as possible.
After a short conversation with "customer service," the man was connected to what was claimed to be the bank's security department.
There, he was asked to download a program that made it possible for the man to remotely control his computer and was then prompted to approve the login to the bank with bank-id.
Then I saw how he got into my computer, his mouse pointer moved without me moving it.
The man on the other end said he would transfer the money from the savings account to a secure account, but instead, the man saw the money disappear.
I screamed into the phone that I had been deceived.
Denial
The defendants are three men, 19 to 20 years old, and a 29-year-old woman. According to the prosecutor, the gang may have involved as many as 20 people.
All four deny the crime. They have not provided any explanations for the evidence against them, but have largely remained silent or responded with "no comment."
Through their defenders, they maintained their innocence when the trial began, and followed the hearings with the victims in court in silence.
An elderly woman who had lost over 44,000 kronor asked after her hearing if she could "send a greeting to the scammers," but was denied.
I understand that you want to, but unfortunately, that's not possible in this forum, replied the court's chairman, Kai Koskela.
The trial is scheduled to continue until mid-April.
If someone calls you and you become unsure, hang up. The sooner you end the call, the greater the chance you have of stopping the scammer.
Never identify yourself with bank-id and never give out codes from a bank box or payment card at the request of someone else.
If you receive an SMS with information you don't recognize, it's likely a scam. Don't respond.
Source: The Police
