I have been tricked: What do I do?

First and foremost, you don’t have to be ashamed that you’ve been tricked.

The criminals that send out these types of messages are experts in manipulation and they tailor the messages to make them look as trustworthy as possible. Many of us get tricked by phishing emails and text messages and this is completely understandable.

What’s important is to react quickly, in order to reduce the damages that the criminals can inflict.

• Have you disclosed bank or credit card information? If so, it’s important that you immediately contact your bank or credit card company.
• If you have disclosed your login credentials, it’s important that you change the password everywhere the password is in use.
• Start using two-factor authentication where this is available for login (a one-time code in addition to your password).
• Have you disclosed your social security number? Social security numbers can be used in ID thefts. What you can do is blocking the possibility of credit ratings for you and take other measures – read more about ID-theft (nettvett.no, in Norwegian).
• Have you disclosed any information about your workplace? If so, you should inform your employer.

If you have been the victim of fraud, we recommend that you report the incident to the police.

We also recommend Nettvett.no for more information. Here you can find advice and guidance for how to safely use the internet (most of the information is in Norwegian). Their information is targeted towards individuals and small/medium enterprises.