"In my opinion, we must start treating cybercrime more strictly as a type of crime, so as to discourage people from getting involved in it," Kotka told "Terevisioon."

While scam phone calls in the past, if they were not an automated message, were often made in the Russian language, there is a rising concern of calls being made in native-language level Estonian, Kotka noted.

Even Kotka himself had an experience of a call of this kind, which he filmed.
"I'm familiar with this kind of attack, and when 'Sander' called, our conversation didn't last very long," Kotka said.

In this case, a now familiar scam referencing the Health Insurance Fund (Tervisekassa) was made.

"The scammers claim that you have unused Health Insurance Fund money, and it is really very easy to fall for that hook," Kotka noted.

In this case, the caller was a real, native-speaking Estonian but, Kotka said, it is highly likely that AI will in the not too distant future be able to replicate fluent Estonian in making the calls.

"I haven't yet seen AI making calls in such good Estonian as yet. The person who talked to me was definitely a real Estonian," he said.

A heightened awareness of all forms of fraud, which can be conducted in English as well.

"We are all cybercrime 'doping hunters,' and the crooks are the dopers," Kotka went on, adding that scams are often cost-effective even if the "hit" rate is a fraction of one percent.

"The situation will get even worse simply because our phone numbers and emails can be bought by the kilo. The cost of a single attack is very low. You can make and send hundreds of thousands of such calls to us in a few hours; maybe someone bites and if someone does take the bait, then the hunt is on," he continued.

Aside from common sense dictating against it, and the risk of running up a large phone bill, talking to scammers at length is to be avoided, Kotka continued.

This is because each conversation will "teach" the scammers how to get better at their work, and their aims – mainly of getting personal data in order to commit fraud.

"Scammers want to get hold of your identity, and since Smart-ID is the most common, that's what they try to use. If someone asks for your PIN codes or other security elements via phone or email, don't give them," he noted.

The problem is global too. "Billions disappear into the pockets of scammers around the world," Kotka added.

At the same time, Estonia seems to have become somewhat of a hotspot in any case.

"The Estonian police are at the forefront in the world when it comes to detecting cybercrime," the expert noted.

Ultimately, the main thing we can do is raise awareness, for all, Kotka concluded.

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