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Woman forgets life savings on Gothenburg tram

An elderly Swedish woman lost her 500,000 kronor ($56,000) life savings when she left them on a Gothenburg tram on the way to the bank.

Published: 1 March 2009 12:05 CET

The 83-year-old retired seamstress, identified only as Birgitta, had for years kept her savings in a desk in her home in Gothenburg in western Sweden.

The elderly woman finally decided it would be safer to put the cash in a bank account, the Aftonbladet daily reported.

On February 19th, she filled a paper bag to the brim with 10,000-kronor piles of bank notes before taking a tram to the centre of town.

“I was going to the bank to deposit the money,” she told the paper.

But when she got to her stop, she forgot the bag and got off leaving her life savings behind.

Birgitta was too embarrassed to tell her family what had happened at first, and when they finally contacted the tram operator the money was long gone.

“I don’t think there is a chance I’ll get the money back, but if someone does return it they will of course receive a finder’s fee,” she told Aftonbladet.

Gothenburg police were more optimistic however, pointing out that surveillance cameras on the tram could help them identify who had taken the bag of money.

How to avoid falling victim to tax scams in Sweden

Anyone who earned more than 22,208 kronor last year received their tax returns digitally last week, marking the start of tax season.

That also means an expected peak in tax-related scams, Skatteverket warns.

Most of the scams are so-called phishing scams, meaning attempts to steal the victims’ personal information. Fraudsters may for example email a person, pretending to represent Skatteverket, and ask them for, among other things, their banking details.

“We’re seeing these in all channels. They use fake emails, SMS, letters and in some cases even phone calls. It is particularly common in tax declaration times – just when we’re about to send out the tax returns, the e-service opens and it’s possible to declare – but above all when it’s time for tax rebates,” Jan Janowski, a Skatteverket expert, told Swedish news agency TT.

A scam email might for example state that you’re entitled to a tax rebate and that you should click a link to receive it. Don’t click any links, open any attachments or reply to the message. Skatteverket advises that you immediately delete the email or text message.

Another common scam is that you receive a text message claiming to be from Skatteverket, telling you that you owe them money and you need to log in to calculate the amount. The website you’re urged to log in via does not belong to Skatteverket. Don’t click the link.

The agency stresses that it never asks people for their banking details. The exception is that you may be asked for your bank account information if you log into Skatteverket’s website to declare your taxes, but that always first requires you to log into the site.

To receive your tax rebate, you need to inform Skatteverket of your bank account number. You do this not by clicking a link in an email or SMS, but by logging into their website using a digital ID, for example BankID, and submitting your details. Only do this on your own initiative. If someone calls you and asks you to log in with your BankID during the phone call, don’t do it. That’s another common scam.

Skatteverket will also never call you to ask for your bank account or credit card number.

It will be possible to declare your taxes from March 19th. You’ll receive any tax rebate you’re owed by mid-April or early June, depending on when you submit your tax return. These are the dates when fraudsters are likely to attempt the most scams.

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