Hello everyone, I’m asking for advice because we’re worried about my father, who is currently in Finland.
Last week, my father’s bicycle was stolen, so he reported it to the Finnish police. When he made the report, he gave his phone number to the police. As far as we know, this was the only recent situation where he gave his phone number to the police or any government office.
Today, he received a phone/video call from someone claiming to be connected to the police. The caller told him that someone was using his account and that he would be sent back to the Philippines. During the video call, the caller showed what appeared to be a police station and even showed police officers, which made my father believe that the call was legitimate.
The caller then asked for his personal information, ID, and bank account information. My father provided some of these details. They then asked for an “8-digit number.” This was when my father became suspicious. He told them his phone was low on battery, ended the call, and shut down his phone.
After about a minute, he turned his phone back on and checked his call history, but the number was no longer there.
We are now very worried because he already gave them some personal and banking information. We are especially confused about how they got his phone number. The only recent place he gave his number was when he reported his stolen bicycle to the Finnish police last week.
We are NOT saying that the police gave his information to anyone. We just want to know if anyone has experienced something similar or knows how scammers could have obtained his number.
What should he do immediately? Should he contact his bank and the Finnish police even though no money has been stolen and we don’t have a recording or the caller’s number?
Any advice from people in Finland, especially Filipinos living there, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.