SHARE
COPY LINK

PASSPORTS

What to do if you are a victim of identity theft in Denmark

Police are currently investigating a burglary at the city hall in the town of Haderslev, where 134 passports were stolen.

What to do if you are a victim of identity theft in Denmark
File photo: Claus Fisker/Ritzau Scanpix

The break-in, which happened during the weekend, resulted in the theft of 134 passports, all of which included photographs and personal information. South Jutland Police confirmed the crime in a statement.

The break-in was reported at 8am on Monday, but the exact time of the burglary is unclear and investigation is ongoing.

Most stolen passports are used for illegal entry and exit across borders, according to police.

But South Jutland Police said there is also a risk that personal information from the stolen passports could be misused.

Such misuse can encompass collection and modification of personal information, prescription of medication over the telephone, identity theft and using credit to purchase goods or services.

Members of the public who suspect abuse of their personal information are advised to contact police immediately, and should also contact their bank and credit providers.

Additionally, the borger.dk citizens’ services website can be used to advise money lenders that your identity might have been stolen.

That is done by attaching a ‘kreditadvarsel’ (credit warning) to your personal registration (CPR) number, signalling to companies that they should be extra careful with credit checks before approving loans in your name.

READ ALSO: Is life in Denmark impossible without a personal registration number?

You can remove the notification once it is no longer relevant.

It should be noted that it is optional for companies to choose whether to be notified of the warning via your CPR number. However, companies that provide loans or credit suffer losses related to identity abuse, so it is likely to be in their interests to receive the notifications.

Many companies also need to adapt their own IT systems in order to access the information, but this is expected to become less of an obstacle as companies update their systems, according to the borger.dk website.

You can also speak to your Danish insurance company about how you may be covered in the event of identity theft.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

FEATURE

What changes about life in Denmark in June 2021?

Coronavirus rules, travel restrictions and car registration fees are among the areas set to see announcements, updates or rule changes in Denmark in June.

What changes about life in Denmark in June 2021?
An electric-powered harbour bus operating in Copenhagen in June 2020. Photo: Claus Bech/Ritzau Scanpix

Changes to coronavirus restrictions

Denmark initially outlined a phased plan to lift its coronavirus restrictions back in March. The plan has been updated (and accelerated) on a number of occasions, with politicians meeting regularly to discuss adjustments based on the status and progression of the epidemic.

Initially, the government said it would lift the majority of restrictions by the end of May, when it expected to have vaccinated everyone over the age of 50 (apart from those who choose not to be vaccinated). Although the vaccination calendar was pushed back, restrictions are still being lifted, with the government citing progress with vaccinations and general good control of the epidemic.

In an agreement reached earlier this month, the government said rules requiring the use of face masks and corona passports will be revoked when all people over 16 in Denmark have been offered vaccination. The end-stage of the vaccination programme is currently scheduled to be reached at the end of August. But more detail on the plans for phased lifting of these rules is expected to surface in June.

READ ALSO: When will Denmark stop requiring corona passports and face masks?

A return to offices and shared workspaces, already set out to occur in three steps, will continue. In the first phase, which began on May 21st, 20 percent capacity were allowed back at physical workplaces. Remaining staff must continue to work from home where possible. This proportion will increase to 50 percent on June 14th (and 100 percent on August 1st).

Public assembly limit to be raised indoors, lifted outdoors

The current phase of reopening, which has been in place since May 21st, limits gatherings indoors to 50 people. This is scheduled to increase to 100 on June 11th.

Outdoors gatherings, currently limited to 100 people, will be completely revoked on June 11th.

August 11th will see the end of any form of assembly limit, indoors or outdoors, according to the scheduled reopening.

Unfortunately, this does not mean festivals such as Roskilde Festival – which would normally start at the end of June – can go ahead. Large scale events are still significantly restricted, meaning Roskilde and the majority of Denmark’s other summer festivals have already been cancelled.

Eased travel restrictions could be extended to non-EU countries

Earlier this month, Denmark moved into the third phase of lifting travel restrictions , meaning tourists from the EU and Schengen countries can enter the country.

The current rules mean that foreigners resident in EU and Schengen countries rated orange on the country’s traffic light classification (yellow, orange and red) for Covid-19 levels in the relevant countries, will no longer need a worthy purpose to enter Denmark, opening the way for tourists to come to Denmark from across the region.

Denmark raised the threshold for qualifying as a yellow country from 20-30 to 50-60 cases per 100,000 people over the past week.  

However, the lower threshold only applies to EU and Schengen countries, which means that, for example, the UK does not qualify as a yellow country despite falling within the incidence threshold.

READ ALSO:

But the 27 member states of the European Union recently announced they had agreed to allow fully vaccinated travellers to enter the bloc.

A Ministry of Justice text which sets out the plan for Denmark’s phased easing of travel restrictions suggests that the fourth phase, scheduled to take effect on June 26th, will see Denmark adopt the EU’s common rules on entry for persons from outside the bloc, meaning non-EU countries could qualify for the more lenient rules for yellow regions.

New car registration fees come into effect

New rules for registration fees for new vehicles, adopted in February, take effect on June 1st.

The laws, which will be applied retroactively from December 18th 2020, mean that different criteria will be used to calculate the registrations fees applied to cars based on their carbon dioxide emissions, replacing the existing rules which used fuel consumption as the main emissions criteria.

New rules will also be introduced offering more advantages for registering electric and hybrid vehicles.

You can find detailed information via the Danish Motor Vehicle Agency.

READ ALSO: Why is it so expensive to buy a car in Denmark?

SHOW COMMENTS