Swedish celebs campaign for public rudeness ... to prevent cyber scams

Swedish celebrities will front a national campaign encouraging the public to exercise their rudeness in an effort to drive down rates of cyber scams. According to Polisen, Sweden's police authority, the country's cybercriminals profited 5.7 billion SEK ($579.9 million USD) in 2025 alone, and their scams are especially successful when targeting the elderly. The message is simple: Dare to be rude - it could save you from being scammed," said the Polisen this week, announcing a relaunch of the campaign with four new faces. Actors Suzanne Reuter, Lennart Jahkel, and Christina Schollin are joined by journalist Claes Elfsberg in the public awareness campaign, which will run through October 11 across print media, social media, and television. I am part of the police campaign because it is a terrible crime that affects so many people," said Reuter. If I can use my voice to help someone not to be scammed, then I want to do it. Many of us are raised to always be polite and accommodating, and there are many in my generation. But today you have to dare to be a little more questioning. It's not rude - it's self-protection." Polisen's national operations leader, Robert Ohman, said fraudsters are skilled social engineers, adept at building trust simultaneously with a sense of stress or urgency. His aim for the campaign is to encourage the public to feel more comfortable with simply hanging up the phone if they feel something might be awry. Telephone-based scams are by far the most common. Typically targeting the over-60s, the Polisen said scammers will often send targets SMS messages under various guises, but always claiming to represent a trusted authority, such as the government or a bank. Unwitting victims then call the telephone number included in the message and are connected to the scammers who read from a prepared script. Like the Netherlands, Sweden is also affected by fake police officer scams. These typically see crooks dress as police officers, offering to collect and safely store valuables, but steal them after the victim transfers them. In these cases, police and campaigners are urging the public to fight their learned social norms and shut the door at the slightest hesitation." The police and other reputable organizations or companies never go to someone's home to collect gold, credit cards or other valuables," the Polisen said. Officials are not only concerned about the personal losses incurred by victims, but also about the ways in which the stolen funds are used. The money that the fraudsters get can also help finance other serious crimes," said Ohman. In the ongoing operation, we can confirm close cooperation between the organized fraudsters and the pure violent networks. Therefore, we must both reduce the risk of people being deceived and strike at the criminal actors behind the crimes." Swedish police and the country's Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) started working more closely to combat telephone fraud in June. That same month, the Swedish Parliament approved new rules under the Electronic Communications Act compelling providers of number-based services to block suspected fraud communications before they reach the recipient. The amendments came into force as of August 1, and followed previous legislative tweaks that tasked the PTS with blocking spam calls, especially those originating from overseas and spoofing real Swedish numbers. (R)