Bank Norwegian: large number of attempted fraud against the elderly in Denmark

Denmark is currently experiencing a high number of fraud attempts, where especially older people are enticed to share their NemID information which is used to create new credit card agreements in their name. Over the past month, Bank Norwegian has discovered more than 25 attempts at this type of fraud. The name "Rigmor" is repeated in many of these cases. Bank Norwegian is now warning its customers and introducing a number of measures to stop the fraud.

- We report all fraud attempts to the Police and ask our customers to be extra attentive. Fortunately, our department for Fraud and Financial Disputes have uncovered several of the fraud attempts. By issuing this type of warning, we want to contribute to better knowledge about this type of fraud and increase our customers' awareness of it. We hope that we can make it more difficult for criminals behind these fraudulent activities, says Melita Ringvold, Head of Communication and Sustainability at Bank Norwegian.

As many as 13 "Rigmor" cases in one week

The procedure is the same in all cases. People are called by a person who pretends to call from the Danish Agency for Digital Government to help with the new digital ID solution MitID. In this way, the fraudsters take advantage of the transition to MitID, which many have found to be challanging. During the call, the person is asked to share their NemID codes.

There are indications that the victims are chosen on the basis of their names, which are more common among the elderly population. In the beginning, it was mainly about people aged 70-80, but Bank Norwegian has also seen similar fraud attempts against people in other age groups.

- We discovered that the name "Rigmor" was repeated in many of the cases, either as the persons 'first names, middle names or as their spouses' names. In the first week of May, we discovered as many as 13 "Rigmor" cases, and later we have seen several names that may indicate that the person is an older person, says Emilie Pedersen in bank Norwegian's department for Fraud and Financial Disputes.

Never share codes and login information with others

Pedersen explains that many of those who have been exposed to the fraud have had immediate suspicion, and therefore blocked their NemID before they have been contacted by the bank. It is often too late as the credit card has already been created. The cards are quickly connected to digital payment services, which means that they can be used immediately.

- The payment amounts in these cases vary from a few thousand to quite large amounts. We strongly warn against sharing personal information, usernames and passwords. At the same time, we have encouraged the Danish Digitization Agency and other banks to pay special attention to this type of fraud. It is important for us to ensure that others are not exposed to fraud, says Emilie Pedersen.

What can you do to avoid fraud?

• Never share sensitive information by phone or email
• Never share your personal login details or codes with others
• Banks and government authorities will never ask you to share such access codes
• The Danish Agency for Digital Government will contact you via Digital Post if there is something you need to do - never by phone
• Contact your bank immediately if you suspect fraud
• If the damage has occurred, you must block your NemID and report the case to the Police
• Contact MitID customer support to ensure that your NemID is not used to create MitID.