Online Scams in Sweden: Complete Guide 2026
Sweden's National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå) reported that fraud offenses exceeded 200,000 in 2025, with losses in the billions of kronor. Sweden's highly digital society — where cash has nearly disappeared, BankID is the universal identity solution, and Swish handles peer-to-peer payments — creates specific vulnerabilities. The very efficiency that makes Sweden's digital infrastructure convenient also makes it exploitable.
BankID Fraud
BankID (Mobile BankID) is used by over 8 million Swedes for banking, government services, and authentication. It's the single most valuable target for scammers. The primary attack: scammers call pretending to be from your bank or the police, claiming suspicious activity, and asking you to "verify your identity" by opening BankID and entering your code. In reality, the scammer is simultaneously logging into your bank account, and your BankID authentication approves their access.
"Hej, jag ringer från Nordea säkerhetsavdelning. Vi har upptäckt ett obehörigt inloggningsförsök på ditt konto. Kan du öppna din BankID och verifiera dig så att vi kan spärra kontot?" — (Hi, I'm calling from Nordea security. We've detected an unauthorized login attempt on your account. Can you open BankID and verify yourself so we can block the account?) — This is always a scam. Banks never ask you to open BankID during a phone call they initiated.
Critical rule: Never open BankID when someone calls you. If your bank needs to verify your identity, they'll ask you to visit a branch or call them back on the official number.
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Swish Scams
Swish, Sweden's mobile payment app, is exploited through marketplace fraud. On Blocket (Sweden's classified platform), fake buyers claim to have made a Swish payment and send fake Swish confirmations. Sellers ship items believing payment was received, but no actual transfer occurred.
Always verify Swish payments in your banking app before releasing any goods. Don't trust screenshots of Swish confirmations — they're trivially easy to fake.
PostNord Delivery Scams
Fake PostNord SMS about customs fees or failed deliveries are Sweden's most common phishing messages. "Du har ett paket som väntar — betala avgiften" (You have a package waiting — pay the fee) links lead to fake PostNord pages. Track packages only at postnord.se.
Skatteverket (Tax Agency) Scams
Fake Skatteverket messages about tax refunds arrive during the spring tax season (March-May). The Skatteverket processes refunds automatically to your registered bank account — no action is needed, and they never send links.
Reporting Scams in Sweden
- Police: 114 14 (non-emergency) or polisen.se
- Internetstiftelsen: internetstiftelsen.se
- Konsumentverket: Consumer protection — konsumentverket.se
- CERT-SE: cert.se
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