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Fraud in Denmark: See how much

Fraudsters are creative in their methods, and some types of fraud are on the rise while others are on the decline. See how much for each type here.

16. Jul 2025
4 min
English / Dansk

A bank adviser calling to help stop an unknown transfer or an online girlfriend who needs money for this or that.

Fraudsters are creative in their methods, and when studying Finance Denmark's figures for the development, it seems that digital fraud is here to stay.

See how much for each type of fraud below.

Online banking fraud

Online banking fraud is the type of fraud where criminals attempt to gain access to money through online banks of victims. One way of gaining access is by contacting a victim, claiming to be from the bank and persuading them to transfer money. It may, however, also be by tricking the victim into handing over ID and password or clicking on something that installs a hacker program on their computer, phone or tablet.

In 2023, total online banking fraud experienced a record high 9,127 cases of victims being tricked into transferring a total of DKK 105 million to criminals. 

However, this particular type of fraud is showing signs of improvement as the number of cases fell to 6,919 in 2024. 

Criminals also got their hands on less money because, in the second half of 2024, banks stopped almost two out of three fraudulent transfers. Still, in 2024, a total of DKK 82 million ended up in the pockets of fraudsters. 

(Artiklen fortsætter efter boksen)

When love comes at a high price

While online banking fraud is going in the right direction, it's a different story with so-called love fraud, where victims often believe they are in an emotional relationship with another person and are tricked into sending money to a fraudster.

In total, Danish banks registered 557 love fraud cases with a loss of DKK 22.5 million in 2024. The year before, there were 490 cases and a loss of DKK 17 million.

According to Finance Denmark, there may be a large number of unreported cases of this type of fraud because it is associated with great shame.

A brilliant investment?

So-called investment fraud, where criminals lure victims into investing in scams, is also going the wrong way. From 2023 to 2024, the amount nearly doubled, and the criminals thereby got away with DKK 95 million.

Finance Denmark makes a reference to a British study from December 2024 which concludes that social media play a major role in this type of fraud. In 46 per cent of the investment fraud cases in the UK, the platforms of Meta or Snapchat were used.   

According to Finance Denmark, there have also here in Denmark been several examples of criminals misusing pictures and fake videos of celebrities on social media, tempting people with lucrative investments in, among other things, cryptocurrency.

"Hello, this is the CEO"

Sometimes criminals target businesses instead. An example of this is the so-called CEO fraud, where a fraudster poses as a senior employee and asks someone else to transfer money from the company account.

Figures from Finance Denmark show that, in the second half of 2024, DKK 4.4 million was attempted stolen. Part of this was prevented, but DKK 1.3 million was lost.

Another example is where criminals try their luck by using invoice fraud, issuing invoices to companies for goods or services they have never received. The invoices are typically for small amounts, making it easier for them to pass through the system without their authenticity being questioned. Invoice fraud may also occur by the fraudster pretending to be an existing supplier and sending information that payment should now be made to a different bank account.

(Artiklen fortsætter efter boksen)

When the banker comes knocking on the door

Fraudsters are not just using digital tricks. They have also been successful in robbing elderly people in particular of money with the type of fraud known as doorstep scams.

In these cases, a criminal knocks on a victim's door, telling them that they have been hacked and that they should give their credit card to the criminal, who will make sure nothing happens. 

In the first quarter of 2025, there were 588 such cases where fraudsters managed to get away with DKK 8.44 million. In the fourth quarter of 2024, by comparison, there were 578 cases where DKK 10.56 million was lost.

Measures against fraud

Banks are trying to curb fraud in various ways, and at Finance Denmark's annual meeting in 2023, they took the initiative to set up a Fraud Task Force to find solutions to prevent much more crime and prepare people to resist it. 

The Task Force has since made 18 specific recommendations, some of which are already being implemented. 

Finance Denmark has, for instance, recently entered into a collaboration with Victim Support Denmark to strengthen bank customers' ability to get support if they have been exposed to fraud.

See the 18 recommendations here. (in Danish)

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