Sweden's stars back police campaign: dare to be rude to avoid phone scams

Swedish celebrities are fronting a national campaign that asks the public to do something unusual: be rude. The message from Polisen, Sweden's police authority, is that hanging up on a suspicious caller or closing the door on an unexpected visitor can be the difference between keeping your savings and losing them.

A profitable year for the fraudsters

Polisen says cybercriminals took 5.7 billion Swedish kronor ($579.9 million) in 2025 alone, and that their schemes work especially well against people over 60. "The message is simple: Dare to be rude – it could save you from being scammed," the authority said this week, announcing the relaunch of the campaign with four new faces.

Actors Suzanne Reuter, Lennart Jähkel and Christina Schollin appear alongside journalist Claes Elfsberg. The campaign runs until October 11 in print media, on social networks and on television.

Social engineers on the phone

"I am part of the police campaign because it is a terrible crime that affects so many people," Reuter said. "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."

Robert Öhman, Polisen's national operations leader, describes fraudsters as skilled social engineers who build trust while creating a sense of stress or urgency. His goal is to make people comfortable with simply ending a call. Telephone fraud is by far the most common form: messages usually arrive as SMS texts claiming to represent a trusted authority such as a government body or a bank, and victims who call the number in the message reach the criminals, who read from prepared scripts.

Sweden also records fake police officer scams, as does the Netherlands. Criminals pose as officers, offer to collect and store valuables, and then disappear with them. Police urge the public to shut the door "at the slightest hesitation", stressing that real officers and reputable organizations never visit a home to collect gold, credit cards or other valuables.

Blocking fraud before it arrives

Öhman added that stolen money can finance other serious crime, and that ongoing investigations show close cooperation between organized fraudsters and violent networks. The response therefore has to both reduce the number of people who are deceived and strike at the groups behind the schemes.

Alongside the awareness campaign, Swedish police and the country's Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) have been cooperating more closely since June. That month parliament approved amendments to the Electronic Communications Act requiring providers of number-based services to block suspected fraudulent communications before they reach the recipient. The rules took effect on August 1, after earlier changes tasked the PTS with blocking spam calls, particularly those originating overseas and spoofing genuine Swedish numbers.