– Police Loses Battle Against Investment Fraudsters – NRK Rogaland – Local News, TV and Radio

– Kjell Samuelsen is to be commended for claiming he has been misled. For many, this is full of shame. But the police should have spent more resources tracking down the culprits in such fraudulent leagues.

Here’s what Thor-Christian Haugland, Executive Vice President of Communications and Sustainability at Sparebank 1 SR-Bank says.

Ecocrime responds to the criticisms later in the article.

NRK previously reported how scammers cheated Kjell Samuelsen in Haugesund for 10 million crowns:

Recently, they contacted him again to try to steal even more money. There are many indications that the scammers are British, and in this article you can listen to audio clips with them:

Terje Fjeldvær, director of DNB’s Financial Cybercrime Center, agrees with his colleague at Sparebank 1.

– We experience that the police have low priority these cases, since their investigation requires many resources. This is a very serious crime that affects many and it is important that the police act, says Fjeldvær.

It was through the Fjeldværs bank that Kjell Samuelsen, through a total of 75 transactions, transferred all his assets to the scammers.

– The police are falling behind

Samuelsen reported the case to police last year, but the Southwest Police District told him they could not investigate it for capacity reasons.

DNB and other banks cannot investigate these cases on their own.

– The police should do that and then we can help them. We know there is competition in the police, but if they don’t go out into the field soon, they will be left far behind. Banks cannot prevent this form of crime on their own, says Fjeldvær.

It emphasizes that those who engage in this form of crime are becoming more and more professional and that more and more victims are being affected.

– Individuals low priority

All transactions in these fraud cases leave traces through various stages.

– Some of the leads go to other European banks with the same requirements as us, and those leads that the police must follow, encourages Thor-Christian Haugland.

He believes that the police put companies that have been scammed first and foremost.

– As a private person, you are at the bottom of the list if they deceive you.

Sparebank 1 SR-Bank has registered 20 similar scammers so far this year. This is despite the bank having repeatedly warned against this. Sometimes the bank comes in and stops transactions so that customers don’t lose money.

In several of the cases, customers believe they have not been scammed.

– This shows how friendly, confident and cunning bullies are, says the executive vice president.

A league earned 3,000 million euros

Terje Fjeldvær at DNB believes that it is important to view fraud cases in context, and not as individual cases, because there are many people who are misled by the same scammers.

– But isn’t it true that the police can also set up large networks investigating cases in which people are affected?

– Yes, you can say that. If the network has misled a person, there are probably many victims in addition to this, says Fjeldvær.

It refers to a case from 2017 where an international investigation against a fraud ring revealed that this group alone had cheated € 3 billion, corresponding to more than NOK 30 billion at the current exchange rate.

The fraud league had branches in Spain, Portugal and Germany, and the investigation identified more than 50,000 victims in 34 countries.

Educated british

In the second article on Kjell Samuelsen, we have posted audio clips showing how polite and trusting scammers seem.

The director of Sparebank 1 has experience that scammers have become very well acquainted with “victims” beforehand, among other things, by studying them on social media.

– If they see that you like golf, they will gladly start by talking about your golf game. They are incredibly cunning.

He believes that the extensive networks that scammers build are a good example of how much money they can earn from them.

– He also runs a white business

According to Terje Fjeldvær, one of the problems with investigating such networks is that the leads often only lead to the call center, to those who do the actual call work.

– The culprits are not sitting there. They like to run ordinary companies along with the criminal business in which they launder money. But history shows that it is possible to take them if the police only put in enough resources and cooperate across national borders, he says.

– In the case of Kjell Samuelsen, is it correct for the police to close it when such high values ​​are at stake?

– It is impossible to answer, because I do not know the priorities in the corresponding police district. We don’t know what other cases they may have booked to investigate this particular one.

Ecocrime: – Greater responsibility in police districts

When NRK contacted Økokrim for a statement for this article, they referred us to the Norwegian Police Directorate.

At the Police Directorate, the management does not want to comment and believes, however, that it should be Økokrim’s responsibility to respond to criticism.

After a new round, Hedvig Moe, deputy director of Økokrim, replied the following in an email:

“The vast majority of investment fraud cases are handled by police districts. However, we have said that Økokrim will investigate some more cases in the future where private individuals have been exposed to fraud than we are today. This may include investment fraud Ecocrime also assists police districts in economic and environmental crime cases including investment fraud We understand that people are concerned with this type of case and we believe it is important to contribute to the overall police effort.

Union police officer: – Financial investigations are lowered

– What is needed is a strong investigative push in the Norwegian police, says Unn-Alma Skatvold, deputy director of the Norwegian Police Association.

It refers to a new capacity survey where it is stated that the police use up to 30 percent of resources to work with just under 3 percent of the case portfolio.

– Therefore, tough priorities must be set, which means that some areas suffer, including the investigation of economic crimes. We’ve seen many examples of this in recent years, says Skatvold.

When resources are scarce, Unn-Alma Skatvold believes it is right to prioritize the investigation of child abuse and serious violence and drug crimes.

– There are not enough resources to investigate everything as well, and if we take resources from the other serious fields, we simply move the problem. If you compare the rape of a child to a financial crime, then everyone agrees which should be taken first, he says.