Norwegian financial regulators are issuing warnings about a growing trend in which fraudsters are visiting people's homes under the guise of being bank employees. Gry Nergård, the anti-fraud director at Finance Norway, explains that while the methods of deception have not changed, the scale of these incidents has increased dramatically. Scammers typically initiate contact through a phone or FaceTime call, during which they claim that there are suspicious activities on the victim's account, effectively creating a sense of urgency and trust.

The fraud typically escalates as victims are persuaded to transfer funds to what they believe is a 'safe account' controlled by the scammers. Once trust is established, a person posing as a 'bank employee' may even visit the victim's home to collect bank cards, codes, or other personal financial information. Nergård emphasizes that legitimate banks never send employees to collect such items from customers at their residences, reinforcing the notion that these interactions are fundamentally fraudulent.

Previously, these home visit scams were mostly reported in the Oslo area, but banks are now witnessing similar incidents all over Norway. This nationwide trend raises concerns about the potential for increased vulnerability among the public, particularly as scammers adapt their strategies to exploit vulnerabilities with in-person interactions, indicating a shift in fraud techniques that could have serious financial implications for many individuals.