Recognise consumer product fraud

You can affect general attitudes with your own example. With the help of the information on this website, companies and individuals can more easily recognise what the shadow economy is and identify economic crimes. This website contains tips and examples of how you can act to protect yourself and the society against the harms caused by the shadow economy and economic crime.

Typical irregularities relating to products sold to consumers, or trade in consumer products, include the misuse of country-of-origin labelling, fraud related to alcohol, tobacco and car imports and the so-called subscription traps associated with distance selling.

Private individuals

Slow down and think it over. Before you react, ask yourself the following questions: does the offer sound too good to be true? Is the message written appropriately with good grammar? Is the content of the message suspicious in any way?
Check and recheck. If a suspicious e-mail message includes a hyperlink, first check the destination address by hovering the mouse pointer over the link without clicking on it. If the URL that the link points to is not related to the apparent sender of the message, you are probably dealing with a fraudulent phishing e-mail.
Identify legitimate senders and sources. The browser traffic of online banking services is always encrypted. You can confirm that your browser is using an encrypted connection to the current site by looking for a padlock icon in the address bar and a URL with the https:// prefix. Always keep in mind that the authorities, banks and online retailers will never send you e-mail messages asking you to provide your password, account number, bank details or credit card information, or e-mail messages asking for money.

Businesses

Identify high-risk products. Typical irregularities relating to the consumer products trade include the misuse of country-of-origin labelling, fraud related to alcohol, tobacco and car imports as well as subscription traps associated with distance selling.
Verify the product’s origin. Falsifying the origin of foodstuffs is the most common form of food fraud in Finland.
Contact the authorities if you suspect there is a grey economy element involved in import or export activities.

Prevent

VAT fraud

You may unintentionally participate in fraudulent trading, where someone in the trading chain attempts to avoid value added tax. Companies are always obliged to check whether their business partners can be trusted.

Prevent

undeclared work

Undeclared work is an international phenomenon In the most serious cases, the use of undeclared workers may involve extortionate work discrimination, forced labour and trafficking in human beings when the work is carried out in unlawful conditions.

Report

virtual currencies

While the use of virtual currencies in itself is not a crime, they do not have an official status parallel to that of money. The appreciation of a virtual currency is realised when it is sold or used and, under such circumstances, the appreciation is subject to capital taxation.

Beware of

identity fraud

Identity fraud – i.e. the unlawful use of another person’s name or personal data – was criminalised in September 2015. Identity thefts are typically related to frauds in which the personal data of another person is used to purchase products, to take out a loan or to establish customer or bank accounts.