Nice guys never win People today could stand to be a little less rude. Unless, that is, they're talking to scammers. Then they can use all the profanities they want. In Sweden, celebrities are promoting a national operation against fraud, one that tells the country: Dare to be rude.

Swedish police authority Polisen writes that total profits from fraud in the country amounted to 5.7 billion SEK, around $575.3 million. As is the case everywhere, the most common targets are elderly people.

To fight back against the practice, a campaign has been launched featuring four celebrities from the Nordic nation. One of them, 74-year-old Suzanne Reuter, says many people of her generation have been raised to always be polite and accommodating. But as those are traits that scammers are quick to exploit, they need to be more questioning. Reuter adds that this isn't rude; it's self-protection.

The most common types of scams against people over 60 in Sweden are telephone-based. These often start with a text message in which the scammers claim to represent an official body, such as a government agency, a company, a bank or an association. The message contains a phone number that the recipient is asked to call for help or more information.

When the person calls this number, scammers use prepared scripts to gain the person's trust while inducing stress and creating a sense of urgency to act quickly. They're sometimes told a crime is taking place and money needs to be moved from their account into another one to protect it.

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