In 2024, the police went out and warned in several parts of the country, as a new form of fraud increased more and more.
The fraud is made with fake apps, where the perpetrator offers to pay for an item with Swish, and then break the amount, turn on the screen and show off a green confirmation view, which is almost identical to the one in a genuine Swish app.
The right amount and recipients are visible and the apps are also so sophisticated that the recipient can click on the other’s screen and get the “fireworks effects” that are available to prove that it is a genuine payment – even though no money reaches the recipient’s account.
– If you as a criminal should make a transfer to buy one thing, then you show that you swish and the recipient see on your phone that it is a swish that has gone through and then this is approved when it has never been sent away any transfer, says Jan Olsson.
Closed Discord group
TV4 News has previously reported on how young people use fake credentials, which imitate those offered by Bank ID, and about how they are sold at different prices in a closed discord group.
The same chat group also offers free downloads of fake Swish apps, the review shows. All you have to do is register on a website. A video on the page forum shows gradually how everything goes and it is clear that it is easy to be cheated for the inattentive.
– It is very easy to protect against this but man is lazy by nature and looks at a picture on a phone, and thus believes that the money has been transmitted. It’s a bit boring, says Jan Olsson.
– Of course, we should look at our own phone if money has come into the account. It’s super simple. If you are a businessman, it is a feature you can use at Swish, so you get the pling at once in real time. Before that, you can’t let go of any product, he continues.
So the police work against the authors
The company Swish Writing on his website that they work actively to ensure that sites that offer the fake apps to be shut down. The company also states that they have a constant dialogue with banks, police and Swedish trade on how fraud attempts can be stopped.
The police also work on a continuous basis to shut down pages, such as the one that TV4 News entered.
– You have to remove these pages from the net, so that it does not exist to the extent they do. It is true that they will always exist. It doesn’t matter. There are as many servers in the world as you can put these on.
Step two is to investigate who is behind the pages, by following both digital and financial tracks, Olsson explains. The criminal commissioner describes it as difficult but not impossible.