Response to interpellation 2024/25:503 on fraud and the lack of protection for entrepreneurs
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M considers crime in the financial system to be a priority issue and that the government is working with the banks to strengthen customer protection 1. M argues that the banks have a heavy responsibility for security since they are profitable through digitalization 2, but emphasizes that confidentiality regarding the banks' systems is important so as not to assist criminals 2. M argues that one cannot anticipate the negotiation result in the EU 3 and that if one only makes the banks liable for repayment, it opens a gold mine for criminals 3. S argues that fraud is a growing societal problem where small business owners suffer large economic losses 4. S considers that the banks must take a greater responsibility 5 and that entrepreneurs must not lose everything in a few minutes 6. S argues that the new payment services regulation in the EU aims to strengthen protection by having the banks take responsibility for economic losses in cases of social manipulation 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Niklas Wykman (M)
Madam Speaker! Anna-Belle Strömberg has asked me whether I will work to ensure that the new payment services regulation is expanded so that Sweden's small business owners are also protected, and whether I, within my area of responsibility, see a need to introduce a basic business protection in consumer legislation.
Countering crime is one of the government's highest priorities. This also applies to crime in the financial system.
The vast majority of frauds presuppose that criminals misuse products and services provided by banks. As part of the work against fraud, the government held several meetings with representatives from the banks and the Police Authority during 2024. The purpose was, among other things, to discuss how the banks can take greater responsibility and how the cooperation between the banks and the Police Authority can be strengthened. The banks then presented a package of measures with several proposals to strengthen customer protection. The government is continuously following up on whether the banks' measures are being implemented and are having an effect. It is positive that the crime profits from telephone fraud, so-called vishing, are decreasing.
Parallel to this, the government continues its continuous work of analyzing any potential needs for stricter laws and regulations in order to strengthen the security of bank customers.
The EU's payment services framework is currently subject to negotiations in the EU. The Government is positive towards the framework being reviewed and welcomes the European Commission's approach to combating fraud. Sweden is involved in the Council working group meetings that are currently ongoing. It is important that companies are also protected against fraud. When the negotiations are complete, the rules that are not directly applicable shall be implemented in Swedish law. That work will only begin after the EU negotiations have been completed. I do not want to anticipate that work.
Anna-Belle Strömberg (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank Minister Niklas Wykman for the answer.
A year ago, the Minister and I debated the work against fraud, and the answer then and the answer now are largely similar. But I still interpret the Minister's answer as meaning that there is a need to review the regulatory framework and to introduce basic business protection, which is very good.
It has not escaped anyone's notice that the frauds continue and are spreading. It is now a growing societal problem that feeds the criminal economy. Sweden's small business owners are targets for many different types of fraud. Just like private individuals, they have access to their money directly via their mobile phones, and they generally have more capital. At the same time, they can more easily transfer large sums without the banks stopping the transactions.
Bank fraud has not decreased for entrepreneurs. Företagarna recently conducted a survey among its members, both small and medium-sized enterprises, where they compared how the figures looked in 2023 versus 2025. More report that they have been contacted by fraudsters, and more entrepreneurs have suffered financial losses from fraud in 2025 than in 2023. It is clear here that more needs to be done.
We have previously seen that the willingness to report among entrepreneurs is very low. A report from Företagarna shows that 38 percent of entrepreneurs never report the crimes they are subjected to. Figures from the same organization also show that 40,000 entrepreneurs have been subjected to fraud, and 10,000 state that they have suffered large economic losses and feel powerless against the fraudsters. At the same time, a catastrophic increase in fraud specifically against the elderly during 2025 is reported, according to the police.
This particularly affects small business owners, who often lack the resources to legally defend themselves against false invoices, misleading and unprofessional agreements, advanced online fraud, and vishing, where the crime victims are contacted by telephone by a fraudster pretending to be the police or the bank and tricking them into revealing codes or identities.
Madam Speaker! I want to return to the Minister's answer that one is following the work on the banks' measures and analyzing the need for sharper laws. Despite the fact that the banks have introduced certain security measures, fraudsters can still empty accounts.
Against that background, my question to the Minister is: What effects have been seen since the Swedish Bankers' Association's promised measures, and which have actually been implemented? Have all banks implemented the proposed transaction controls, such as amount limits and time delays?
Entrepreneurs are requesting safer business accounts where it is not possible to quickly empty their accounts.
Statsrådet Niklas Wykman (M)
Madam Speaker! This was one of the areas where, when I took office in this position, I must say that the more one read and the more one approached the issue, the more one was shocked by how poorly it had been managed. Why had so little been done for such a long time? I understand the bad conscience. It is easy to understand that.
Since then, we have taken hold of the issue. Just as the interpellator points out, the plans are now out in the banks. They are being rolled out and implemented step by step. This is being done for each individual bank at somewhat different paces but with a common ambition.
Now an intelligence service is being established within the police for financial crime. How could it not have existed before? Perhaps Anna-Belle Strömberg can answer that question. Why did they sit on their hands year after year?
We have brought together the actors, the banks, and the police. But it does not stop there. We have, for example, also spoken with the telecom providers and the intermediaries that exist on the market to, for example, send SMS messages used for fraud, and it has concerned assignments to Bolagsverket. The list can be made very long of the measures that have now finally been taken and are being taken in this area.
There is nothing else to say but that the frauds are eating away at the people and society. They destroy and, of course, make it more expensive and more difficult to do business, and entrepreneurs are affected. They also occasionally steal the last bit of trust that older people have in society.
Let me say how extremely distressed one becomes when methods similar to these are also used in other contexts. I am thinking, for example, of aggressive lottery sales to elderly people that occur from Spain. Is that to be the case in Sweden? Should they lie so close to each other, that is to say, fraud and being called with very aggressive sales methods for, for example, lotteries? Is it a reasonable order that it is in that way? Should those poles lie so close to each other in Swedish society?
I have also taken note of, among other things, the Consumer Agency's review of, for example, loan brokers and how that sale is described in the Consumer Agency's reports.
Madam Speaker! This is about the work that is ongoing at the banks. We are following that the measures that have been committed to are now being implemented. It is about the police's resources and capacity.
I do not know why an intelligence center had not been established within the police earlier to acquire better knowledge and capability when it comes to the financial system. It is unclear to me why it has not been possible to do so earlier.
It is very unclear to me why it has been thought to be a good idea to sell lotteries to the elderly from Spain using aggressive methods. It is still very unclear to me where the Social Democrats stand on the issue of, for example, the payday loan companies. Should it be allowed to continue?
To get at these frauds, there is no single measure. There are so many things in Sweden that need to become better. But we have finally started, Madam Speaker.
Anna-Belle Strömberg (S)
Madam Speaker! I intend to return to my interpellation concerning the situation of entrepreneurs.
According to the security expert at Företagarna, it is fraud that is now increasing most against companies, and the industry organization Företagarna is currently sounding the alarm regarding help from authorities and banks.
The industries most affected are trade, transport, and hotel and restaurant. The amounts vary greatly. It is everything from such low amounts that the companies do not notice they are paying them or do not think it is worth contesting, to large amounts at one and the same time.
In Företagarnas channels and in reports, one can learn about a family business owner who woke up and discovered that 6 million was missing from the account, after he had thought the day before that he had spoken with his bank.
In the TV4 news in the autumn, a man who was affected told that he received an SMS from Nordea stating that a transaction had failed and that he should call Nordea's blocking service to ensure that his bankid would not be compromised. He believed that it was the real Nordea voice in customer service that he was speaking with. An hour later, he was called by the real Nordea. Then they said that his entire business account had been emptied of 600,000 kronor.
In Aftonbladet, also in the autumn, one could read about a man aged 62 who runs various companies. He lost his life savings when fraudsters manipulated his computer via a program that was disguised as Handelsbanken's security program. It was in fact AnyDesk, and money was transferred via BankID.
He drained his account of approximately 600,000 kronor in six different transactions. He transferred 95,000 kronor one day and the next day over 100,000 kronor to a 17-year-old goalkeeper, without it being flagged anywhere and despite the fact that no large transactions had been made previously.
It is a great tragedy for those who are affected by fraud, and it causes great human suffering beyond the purely economic damage. Once again, we need to ensure that the banks take greater responsibility.
Mr. Speaker! The banks have been unclear about how their measures against fraud are implemented and what must happen for a flag to be activated or for an alarm system to be triggered when large sums disappear.
Entrepreneurs cannot compare the banks' security work or see how much they actually compensate the affected customers, as this is protected by confidentiality.
Mr. Speaker! My questions to the Minister are: What help do those who have already been affected receive? And how does the government ensure that the banks' measures are good enough to be able to protect Sweden's entrepreneurs?
I mean both today and in the future, because we see how criminals change their methods all the time.
Statsrådet Niklas Wykman (M)
Mr. Speaker! First and foremost: The EU work that is to lay the foundation for a more secure financial system is ongoing. Sweden's position is clear and distinct. It is about combating crime.
Then it is not about one, but obviously about several measures. Central to this is being able to share information between different actors in the market but also with authorities. Generally in society, it is very much about sharing information. The Member of Parliament probably knows that the government is now taking large steps, which should have been taken a long time ago, when it comes to the possibility of sharing information so that one can counter crime and ensure that people get on the right track in life. It is of course concerning that this has not been done earlier, but better now we see the problems we have and solve them.
Mr. Speaker! Time and again, I have been clear regarding our banks. The banks are profitable, and that is largely because they have digitized their operations – not only because of that, but largely because of it. Therefore, they also have a very great responsibility to secure the business for those who use the bank's services. This requires that the banks invest in various types of IT security and, of course, also in customer service employees and other things so that they can maintain a high degree of service and user-friendliness in the systems with a higher degree of control and security. The banks have a heavy responsibility for this.
As I have already said, the government has summoned banks and the police authority so that they can explain how they operate. Lists have been drawn up, and they are now being implemented in the system.
Mr. Speaker! I heard Anna-Belle Strömberg – if I did not misunderstand her – complain that this is surrounded by secrecy. Let me say that I am not directly convinced that one should make all such things public. If it were to be out for public viewing exactly how the banks work, exactly which systems exist, and exactly how one monitors the whole thing, it would probably help the criminals much more than it would help pensioners, entrepreneurs, and others who are exposed to fraud.
There are reasons to carry out the work efficiently, but it should not be known exactly how it is done in every single detail. It does not necessarily make society safer as a whole if one tells the criminals about all the protective measures.
It is also something surprising that one cannot make connections to crime in a broad sense. Fraud and the criminal underworld are closely linked. Fraud and money laundering are a very important tool both for financing other criminal activities and for laundering criminal profits.
I can state that it is about the banks taking their responsibility, but it is also about what the government is now doing with stricter penalties, investments in the Police Authority, massive upgrading of the justice system in a broad sense and preventive measures. It is also about the police having received a specific mandate to have an intelligence center regarding financial activities.
Mr. Speaker! For me, it is completely unclear why nothing was done. It was just left as it was. Now, a lot of things are being done. The banks, the surveillance, the EU negotiations that are ongoing and the regulatory frameworks – all of this is, of course, important. But one cannot leave it completely hanging in the air, decoupled from the judiciary's general powers or, for that matter, from how other actors behave, for example those who sell lottery tickets over the phone.
Anna-Belle Strömberg (S)
Mr. Speaker! As I interpret the Minister, he is positive towards and welcomes the European Commission's approach.
But we cannot have a system where an entrepreneur can build up their company over decades and then lose everything in just a few minutes. This does not only affect the entrepreneurs' finances but also employees and suppliers and surely many more.
The new payment services regulation, which is currently being processed within the EU, aims to strengthen the protection for payment service users against fraud. One of the central changes in the proposal is that the responsibility for financial losses resulting from fraud, especially those involving social manipulation where the user unconsciously approves a transaction, shall be taken by the banks. The bank shall therefore bear the financial loss.
It is, however, important to note that the proposed changes primarily focus on consumer protection for private individuals. At present, there is no specific information regarding an extension of the protection to also include entrepreneurs.
Mr. Speaker! My final question to the Minister is therefore: Will the Minister take the initiative to change the payment services act so that it will also protect Sweden's entrepreneurs and so that the responsibility for the security flaws is placed on the banks?
The European Parliament proposes that banks should be liable to customers who have been deceived by fraudsters, regardless of whether the fraudster claims to be from the bank, from the Swedish Tax Agency, or from any other authority.
Mr. Speaker! Now the government has a chance to change this and make the protection better for our entrepreneurs.
Statsrådet Niklas Wykman (M)
Mr. Speaker! These are ongoing negotiations in the EU. In the best-case scenario, this can begin in April, depending on what emerges from the negotiations. Sweden's position is clear. Here is my assessment that the interpellor and I stand on exactly the same side. I cannot, of course, know the exact details of how Anna-Belle Strömberg intends to proceed, but I believe we agree that we should have security in Sweden, that we should counter fraud, and that we should work with information sharing.
When it comes to exactly which parts are to be implemented and which are not directly binding in such a case, we will of course have to return to that once we have the negotiation result. It would be unwise to anticipate that here today.
I sense from the interpellant's contribution that it would be possible to solve this simply by making the banks liable for reimbursement. If one settles for that approach, it opens a gold mine for criminals. Then it is fair game to cheat! Furthermore, they can do it unscrupulously, because it is only the bank that has to pay.
My conviction is that this would not tackle crime but rather open more doors for it. It does not mean that there should not be a repayment responsibility, but one cannot believe that it alone solves the problem. If one only goes that way, one could even outright worsen the problem.
It is part of solving the problem to review and define the banks' responsibilities. But then all the other measures are needed, which prevent the very occurrence of the fraud. Then it is about police, about information sharing and about transaction monitoring in the system so that one monitors transactions and can stop them. There is much to do here.
I hope that we in Sweden will not see lottery sales with aggressive methods that resemble scams in the future.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.