Lise Mørup Dalsgaard is head of AML at the Bank of Greenland.
AML stands for anti-money laundering, and at the Bank of Greenland it is her and her colleagues’ responsibility to prevent money laundering. They do this, among other things, by keeping an eye on deviations and patterns in the customers’ bank accounts.
Lise Mørup Dalsgaard is head of AML at the Bank of Greenland.
AML stands for anti-money laundering, and at the Bank of Greenland it is her and her colleagues’ responsibility to prevent money laundering. They do this, among other things, by keeping an eye on deviations and patterns in the customers’ bank accounts.
– We may find that there are some transfers that do not make sense in relation to what the customer has informed the bank about.
That is, if, for example, transfers suddenly occur to a foreign country with which the bank is not aware that you have any relationship.
– Then we ask the customer what it is about.
Most of the time there is a good explanation, says Lise Mørup Dalsgaard. But sometimes the customer knows nothing about the account movements.
Then the customer may have been exposed to fraud, and a difficult conversation awaits between the bank adviser and a person who has probably acted in good faith or who has been tricked.
Sometimes the bank can manage to stop the transactions.
– Then it’s a good day at work, says Lise Mørup Dalsgaard, who is trained as a lawyer and has, among other things, sat on the Greenland Council for Human Rights.
But it doesn’t always work that way.
– When I come across a new form of fraud, I think that it is a real shame and a shame for the customer, she says and adds:
– When the same type of fraud appears again and again, I get the feeling that someone has set Greenland as a market for that type of fraud.
That is why Lise Mørup Dalsgaard is on a mission. She wants us to talk more about fraud – especially if we have been exposed to it.
Doesn’t just happen to the stupid
We should all know the danger signals, believes Lise Mørup Dalsgaard. Because everyone can be exposed to fraud.
– It is not because you are stupid that it happens. The fraudsters are just very, very cunning, says Lise Mørup Dalsgaard.
The fraudsters are often organized. Take, for example, the Danish network of phone scammers, like the media CheckThe last year could reveal had defrauded the Danes of millions of kroner. In June this year, four of them were convicted at the Court in Nykøbing Falster for defrauding 1,100 Danes for DKK 32 million. The police call it the biggest case of what is called contact fraud in Danish history.
You’ve probably heard of these kinds of scenarios. Someone calls and pretends to be someone they are not, thereby gaining access to a person’s account. For example, they can say they are from the bank, from the police or from MitID.
In retrospect, it may seem so obvious that it is a fraud.
But the masterminds take advantage of one of the most beautiful things we have between us humans, and that is trust.
– It is a form of crime that is very offensive and transgressive for the victims, whose trust and confidence in authorities has been grossly exploited.
This is what special prosecutor Lotte Mie Nielsen from South Zealand and Lolland-Falster Police says in a press release about the historic contact fraud case from Denmark.
Fortunately, Lise Mørup Dalsgaard from the Bank of Greenland will not just warn us. She will teach us how to beware of scams.
Say it out loud to others
That it has to go quickly is one of the signals that we have to watch out for. Therefore, Lise Mørup Dalsgaard’s advice is:
– Stop, pay attention and ask questions.
It sounds easy, but it’s actually a muscle that we have to keep training.
– If we can stop one form of fraud, those behind it will always find something new.
Therefore, Lise Mørup Dalgaard’s most important advice to us is that we must dare to speak out about fraud when we have been exposed to it. Because then we can learn from each other.
– When you tell what the fraudsters did, you help others.
You may be afraid to tell your story because you don’t want to be judged by others. What would you say to those who are sitting with that feeling?
– The fraudsters have an interest in us not speaking loudly about their methods, then we are more vulnerable, and then they can take advantage of our ignorance, she says and adds:
– The fraudsters are organised, and therefore we will also have to stand together.
During the preparation of the article, the editors contacted the Greenland Police. They have not had the opportunity to extract data or participate. The editors have also contacted Transparency International Greenland, which has not returned before the deadline.
