Mobile Certificate as scam prevention method in Finland

Abstract

This thesis examines Mobile Certificate (MC) as a strong electronic identification method and how consumers can benefit from it in the context of online scam prevention. The aim is to evaluate and analyse the current situation and try to understand why majority of electronic identifications in Finland are made using online banking login details. The research is conducted using a qualitative approach combining analysis of documents from various online sources such as news articles, legislations, statistics and real-life case examples. This thesis also includes an expert interview. One of the key findings in this thesis is that recommendations for reimbursement to compensate funds lost by consumers to scammers is rare. In many cases consumers have been seen acting with gross negligence. This thesis examines current scams being operated in Finland and tries to create awareness of them, so that less people would fall as victims for these scams. This thesis asserts that individual consumer responsibility is the first line of defence of scam prevention and that consumers should be far more interested in how to diversify the methods they use for strong electronic identification. One of the most efficient ways to diversify is to use MC as a strong electronic identification method, because it is not linked to online banking.