The phone rang at the home of the woman in her 60s at the beginning of October this year. – It was an unknown number, and then I don’t like to answer, she tells news. But since she was sitting at the computer, she quickly looked up the number and saw that it belonged to the Oslo police district. She therefore chose to answer. A sympathetic and pleasant man introduced himself by name and stated that he was a police investigator. He explained that someone had stolen her identity and was shopping for clothes online and in stores. – He asked if I had been to Elkjøp in Alta and bought an iPhone and if I had ordered hoodies online. I didn’t have that. Drained the account The apparently helpful police investigator then asked the woman for assistance in tracking down the money. In order to do this, he needed access to her accounts. By this time, the woman had been talked around and had given up codes and account information. – Then it was done. This went on for several hours and he reassured me along the way and said that they would be able to get hold of the thug, says the woman. Play sound Here we see that NOK 29 has been spent for a parking space via a parking app. And I understand that you are not aware of that, but we need to get that documented. It is then only NOK 29, and it says on Apple. So we’ll have that removed. But we need a physical acknowledgment from you so that we can remove this here. Then we’re ready. (The victim reads out the one-time code) Then I’ll just wait for a confirmation here. I received it there. Then we will have this removed, and then we will move on to the last activity on the bank card. And then we move on to the Mastercard when you have documented this together with me. At one point the son and grandson entered the room. They immediately became suspicious and called the police and the bank to have the accounts blocked. The grandson filmed parts of the conversation, to secure evidence. But the damage had already been done. Among other things, the fraudster had secured himself from a flexible loan in the woman’s name and stole NOK 750,000. Still, she was lucky. The bank covered most of the loss, while she had to pay an excess of NOK 12,000. – I thought I was being careful since I checked the phone number to see who it was. And when someone presents himself as a police investigator, it’s credible, says the woman. Becoming more widespread What the woman was exposed to is called spoofing. The fraudsters hide their identity behind the police telephone number. – In this case, it was the police number that was misused. They tend to occasionally use banks and other actors to which there may be good access. They do that with complete proof, because then those who are offended don’t dare to ask so many questions about someone asking about this information, says section chief of financial and special investigations in the Oslo police district Rune Skjold to news. The police are seeing more and more of this type of fraud. In the past, it was mostly Nigeria email scams and love scams. In the spoofing cases, the perpetrators try to give the impression that an urgent need for sensitive information has arisen and that they are calling to help the victim. – They stress out the victim in order to carry out the fraud. The woman’s fraud is now being investigated by the police, but so far they have no suspects. That is one of the reasons why they are now releasing audio recordings of the conversation. The police do not rule out that the perpetrators may be behind several cases. The woman who was robbed of NOK 750,000 tells news that she is now clear that she will never fall into the same trap again. Photo: Erik Waage / news – There are often people who continue and have done so in the past. When they are as professional as they have managed to be here, it appears to us that they have been working on this for a while, says Skjold. The money is transferred to other accounts, so-called “mules”, to which the fraudsters have access. And finally taken out in cash. – Never share BankID Consumer policy director at Finans Norge Gry Nergård emphasizes that there are no situations where you should provide bank ID information to others. – It is your personal ID and only you are meant to use it. You must never give it up on purpose, says Nergård to news. Basically, it is the bank that has to cover the losses in such fraud cases as the woman was exposed to, but Nergård says it can vary from case to case how negligent the person has been. Finans Norge is also experiencing an increase in spoofing fraud. Yes, unfortunately we see that it is a type of scam that is very popular right now. The fact that someone calls from an apparent authority makes it easier to be defrauded, says Nergård. (Offended) You’ve been at it for so long now. It’s almost night here. I’m at work until 10pm. I have to stay a couple of hours longer at work, which I expected on behalf of the findings and the procedure that needs to be done. Unfortunately so. Fortunately, I get some overtime pay. But it’s okay to just get this over with today. (Offended) Yes, but if I can get your name one more time. I didn’t get that. Yes, my name is Jørgen Hansen and I work for the Oslo police district. The IT-related department, the criminal department. (Aggrieved) Okay. The woman who was robbed of NOK 750,000 tells news that she is now clear that she will never fall into the same trap again. – When the real police called me about this case, I first laughed at them and said that “I won’t do this again”, she says. news knows the woman’s identity, but she does not want to come forward with her name and photo because she thinks the case is embarrassing and shameful. – But I hope that the story can help someone else. And then I want him to be caught and that someone might recognize his voice, she says.
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Warns against fake police asking for bank ID – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
