Abstract:
Swedish police recently launched a nationwide anti-fraud publicity campaign and invited a number of well-known Swedish figures to participate, delivering a rather special message to the public: Don’t be afraid to be “not polite” when facing scammers. Hang up the phone when you need to, close the door when it’s time, and even let the scammers leave if necessary.
Swedish police stated that the economic losses caused by fraud crimes in the country in 2026 have reached 5.7 billion Swedish kronor, approximately US$575 million. Seniors are particularly vulnerable to scams, so this campaign is specifically targeting this group. Among them, 74-year-old Swedish actor Suzanne Reuter participated in the promotion. She said that people of her generation have been taught since childhood to always be polite, friendly and willing to help others, but scammers will take advantage of these habits. Therefore, people should be more skeptical and vigilant when faced with suspicious situations. She believes that this is not rude, but to protect herself.
The most common type of scam experienced by people over 60 in Sweden involves phone calls. Scammers often start by sending a text message, pretending to be a government agency, business, bank or other organization, and leave a phone number in the text message for the recipient to call to get help or learn more about the situation.
Once the victim calls, the scammer will often talk to him according to prepared words. By building trust, creating tension, and constantly emphasizing the urgency of the matter, the scammer will make the victim lose his cool and take quick action. Some scams will even claim that the victim is involved in a crime or that their bank account is being attacked, and ask that the victim immediately transfer the funds to another account to "protect" the money.
This publicity campaign by the Swedish police specifically reminds the public that as long as they feel anything is wrong during the call, they can hang up the phone without hesitation. The public is not obliged to continue talking to the other person for the sake of so-called politeness, nor does it need to worry that hanging up the phone will appear rude.
Another type of scam that has received serious warnings from the police is door-to-door scams involving people pretending to be police officers. Criminals may come to the victim's home wearing police-like uniforms, fabricate various excuses, and ultimately require the victim to hand over bank cards, cash, gold or other valuables. Once these properties are handed over, they are often irrecoverable.
Robert Ermann, head of national operations of the Swedish police, said that real police will not ask residents to hand over their personal belongings and let the police keep so-called "security items" on their behalf. Therefore, whenever there is any doubt about the identity or claims of the person who comes to the door, residents should immediately close the door rather than continue to listen to the other party's explanation out of politeness.
The police also pointed out that the harm caused by this type of fraud is not limited to the financial losses of the victims themselves. Cash, gold and other valuables handed over by scammers are sometimes further used by criminal gangs to fund other, more serious crimes.
The core concept of the Swedish campaign is therefore very straightforward: it is of course okay to be polite when dealing with normal people, but there is no need to take risks in order to adhere to ordinary social etiquette when dealing with suspected scammers. Refusing to answer, hanging up the phone, closing the door, and asking the other person to leave are all reasonable acts of self-protection.
Similar problems are not unique to Sweden. FBI data shows that in 2025, reported fraud losses among adults aged 60 and over in the United States reached $7.75 billion, involving a total of 201,266 complaints, an increase of 59% from 2024. Among them, investment fraud, technical support fraud, and so-called "pig-killing" emotional fraud have caused particularly serious economic losses, with more than 12,000 victims reporting a single loss of more than $100,000.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has previously pointed out that although older people are less likely to proactively report being scammed than young people, once they are scammed, the average financial loss is often higher. However, these statistics only include cases that have been reported to relevant agencies, so the actual economic losses are likely to be much higher than official statistics.
The Swedish police hope that through this seemingly counter-intuitive propaganda, the public will be aware that in fraud scenarios, "politeness" may actually become a weakness that criminals can exploit. In the face of strange phone calls, suspicious text messages, and so-called staff who suddenly come to your door, it is often more important to stop communication in time and refuse to act according to the other party's request than to try to maintain the so-called politeness.
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