Northern Prefecture cybersecurity expert: scammers use Estonia's public registries to find victims

Hannes Kelt, head of the Northern Prefecture's cyber and economic crimes unit, explained that Estonia's public registries make scammers' work easier. Criminals conduct thorough research before calling, using easily accessible company information.

Hannes Kelt, head of the Northern Prefecture's cyber and economic crimes unit, pointed out in the Kuku radio show "Crime Radio" that in Estonia, fraudsters' work has been made partly easier thanks to public registries. Because company data is freely available, scammers can already learn a great deal about potential victims before even making a call.

Kelt explained that criminals do not select their victims randomly — before making contact, they conduct thorough research. Public databases make it possible to find information about company managers, revenues and other important data, which helps make the fraud more convincing to the victim.

The openness of Estonia's registries is, on one hand, important for ensuring transparency, but on the other hand, it creates a favourable environment for scammers to identify targets. According to Hannes Kelt, it is therefore important for ordinary businesses and individuals to be aware of this threat and approach all unexpected calls critically, especially if the caller appears to know a lot of personal information about you.