Finland's routes in 2026: file a police report (rikosilmoitus) at poliisi.fi, using the police "Net tip" channel for online crime (112 in an emergency), and tell your bank the same hour. Report phishing and information-security incidents to the National Cyber Security Centre Finland (Traficom). Check and report investment fraud through Finanssivalvonta, the Financial Supervisory Authority, which publishes scam warnings. Report scams and misleading marketing to the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (KKV). Escalate a bank's refusal — free — to FINE, the Finnish Financial Ombudsman Bureau. On refunds: under the Payment Services Act (implementing the EU Payment Services Directive), your bank must refund an unauthorised payment with your liability limited unless you were grossly negligent — but money you were deceived into authorising yourself is generally not refundable, because Finland has no UK-style mandatory-reimbursement rule.
If you have been scammed in Finland, two things matter most in the first 24 hours: stopping any further loss and creating a record while the evidence still exists. Everything downstream — which body, which form, which refund argument — depends on getting those two right. The complication is that Finland has no single place to report and no automatic refund for a transfer you authorised, so the order below is built to be the fastest path through a system with several separate doors.
If you are reading this with a transaction you already regret, skip to if money has already moved. A same-day bank recall is sometimes the only thing that works — and Finnish banks are now unusually good at it.
The hard truth first: Finland refunds the hack, not the con
This matters most, because it sets your expectations correctly before you spend a week chasing the wrong outcome.
Finnish law draws a sharp line between two kinds of loss, through the Payment Services Act (maksupalvelulaki), which implements the EU Payment Services Directive. If a payment was unauthorised — someone used your card or got into your account without permission — your bank must refund it, and your own liability is limited unless you acted with gross negligence.
But if you authorised the payment yourself because you were deceived — you approved it with your bank credentials because a convincing "bank adviser" or a "safe account" call told you to — that is legally a valid instruction, and the refund right does not apply. There is no Finnish equivalent of the UK rule that forces banks to reimburse this kind of authorised-push-payment fraud.
The Finnish reporting map — police first, then the specialist
Finland has no single consumer "report a scam" portal of the kind the US (IC3) or the UK (Report Fraud) run, but the police are the obvious front door.
The full Finnish reporting directory, by scam type
Different scams route to different specialists. Using the right one matters more than reporting to all of them.
If money has already moved — the first 24 hours
Speed is the whole game, especially for a transfer you authorised, where there is no automatic refund to fall back on. This is the maximum-recovery order:
The Finnish numbers — and what they reveal
Finland's fraud figures tell two stories at once — a rising threat, and banks getting better at stopping it. A few figures, all from named sources:
The habits that keep you out of the reporting machinery entirely
Reporting is downstream. Prevention is upstream, and three habits stop most Finnish scams cold:
If you are unsure whether something is a scam before any money moves, the fastest second opinion is the Scam Checker on this site, or our free case review. Both are read by a human and answered within 24 hours.
One rule, end to end
If you take one habit from this piece, take this: any unsolicited call, text, or message that pressures you to move money or confirm a banking login is a scam until you have hung up and verified it by contacting the institution on a number you already trust. In a country with no automatic refund for a transfer you authorised, that one pause is worth more than the entire reporting machinery downstream of it.
In Finland and not sure where to start? Let's look at it together.
Describe the message, the call, the transaction. A real expert reviews every case and replies within 24 hours. Free, confidential, no pressure.
Common questions about reporting a scam in Finland
Is there one place to report all scams in Finland?
No single portal, but the route is clear. The criminal report goes to the police (Poliisi): you can file a police report (rikosilmoitus) online at poliisi.fi or at a station, and use the police 'Net tip' channel for online crime; call 112 in an emergency or while money is still moving. Tell your bank in the same hour — that is what gives a recall a chance. For investment fraud, report to the Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanssivalvonta) and check its scam warnings; the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (KKV) has a dedicated 'Report a scam' channel; and phishing or information-security incidents go to the National Cyber Security Centre Finland (Traficom). The practical order: tell your bank, file the police report, then add the specialist body that matches the scam.
Will my Finnish bank refund money I lost to a scam?
It depends on one distinction the whole EU uses. Finland implements the EU Payment Services Directive through the Payment Services Act (maksupalvelulaki). If the payment was unauthorised — someone used your card or got into your account without permission — your bank must refund it, and your own liability is limited unless you acted with gross negligence. But if you authorised the payment yourself because you were deceived — you approved it with your bank credentials because a convincing 'bank adviser' or a 'safe account' call told you to — that is a valid instruction, and there is no Finnish equivalent of the UK rule forcing banks to reimburse this kind of authorised-push-payment fraud. So Finnish banks refund the hack, not the con — though Finnish banks now block or recover more than half of all attempted fraud before it reaches the criminals. Report it fast: speed is what gives a recall a chance.
How do I report a fake online shop, phishing message, or scam call in Finland?
If money or card details were involved, tell your bank immediately so it can watch the account and attempt a recall, then file a police report at poliisi.fi. Phishing was the single biggest loss category in Finland — around 17,000 people were targeted and €53.1 million lost — so report phishing emails, smishing texts and information-security incidents to the National Cyber Security Centre Finland (Traficom). The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (KKV) takes reports of scams and misleading marketing. If you only spotted a scam without losing anything, reporting it still feeds the national picture.
How do I check whether an investment platform is legitimate in Finland?
Use Finanssivalvonta (the Financial Supervisory Authority, FIN-FSA). Before sending money, check that the firm is authorised and read its warnings about unauthorised firms and investment scams. Finanssivalvonta cannot recover your money, but its warnings are how a large share of fake-broker and bogus-crypto operations get publicly flagged — and in 2025 it formally told the EU Commission that combating payment fraud needs action well beyond the banking sector. The dominant pattern is a 'guaranteed return' platform promoted through social-media ads or a stranger who moves the conversation onto WhatsApp or Telegram.
Where can a scam victim in Finland escalate or get help?
If your bank refuses to refund a payment you believe was unauthorised, you can take the dispute — free of charge — to FINE, the Finnish Financial Ombudsman Bureau, which gives advice and resolves disputes between consumers and banks and insurers. For consumer purchases and trader disputes, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (KKV) and the Consumer Disputes Board (kuluttajariitalautakunta) are the routes. None of these — your bank, the police, Finanssivalvonta, or FINE — will ever charge an upfront fee to 'recover' your money. Anyone who does is running the second scam.
Sources & further reading
Every figure in this piece is drawn from these authorities. Click any of them to verify.