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CRIME

‘Hang up’: Danish police warn against English ‘robot voice’ phone scam

Police in Danish region North Jutland said on Monday they had been alerted to phone scams involving an automated voice speaking in English, while people elsewhere in Denmark also reported receiving the calls.

'Hang up': Danish police warn against English ‘robot voice’ phone scam
Danish police have warned members of the public to ignore automated scam phone calls in English. Illustration photo: Stephane Mahe/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix

North Jutland Police said on Monday that it had received several reports of scam attempts involving a false emails along with telephone calls which use an apparently generated voice in English.

The “robotic voice” accuses the listener of committing a crime, the police said in a post on social media X.

“Our service centre is receiving an unusual number of calls from people who have been subjected to scam attempts,” the post read.

“These are both false emails and calls from English-speaking ‘robot voices’ that accused the person of illegalities.

“Our advice: hang up the phone. Delete the email,” it said.

Broadcaster TV2 reported it had spoken to a number of individuals who have received the calls and that they do not appear to be limited to North Jutland.

One such witness told TV2 the call appeared to have originated in German city Hamburg, while another said that a woman’s voice with a foreign accent said “this is from the Danish police force”.

The broadcaster also reports that the automated voice claims the listener’s name has been registered in connection with a criminal case and asks them to press “1” if they want to comment prior to court proceedings.

In an email to TV2, the police’s national economic crime unit National enhed for Særlig Kriminalitet (NSK) said that the scam was not a new one but that members of the public should be aware its overall goal: to trick them into handing over personal information such as passwords and login details.

“It’s therefor important to stress that the police, banks and public authorities would never, at any time, ask members of the public to hand over personal information, including [bank] card and [digital ID] MitID information, over the phone or by email or SMS,” the police unit stated.

Member comments

  1. As in the UK these people speak fluent English but are either African ie Nigerian/ Ghanaian or Indian . Call centre
    They’re very plausible and have taken millions £££/dollars etc worldwide , particularly with Romance Scans

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CRIME

Danish government backs removing children from gang-connected families

Denmark’s government wants authorities to be able to move children out of families in which parents are gang members and is likely to formalise the measure in parliament.

Danish government backs removing children from gang-connected families

The justice spokesperson with senior coalition partner the Social Democrats, Bjørn Brandenborg, told regional media TV2 Fyn that he wants authorities to have the power to remove children from their families in certain circumstances where the parents are gang members.

Brandenborg’s comments came on Monday, after Odense Municipality said it had spent 226 million kroner since 2009 on social services for eight specific families with gang connections.

“There is simply a need for us to give the authorities full backing and power to forcibly remove children early so we break the food chain and the children don’t become part of gang circles,” he said.

The measure will be voted on in parliament “within a few weeks”, he said.

An earlier agreement on anti-gang crime measures, which was announced by the government last November, includes provisions for measures of this nature, Brandenborg later confirmed to newswire Ritzau.

“Information [confirming] that close family members of a child or young person have been convicted for gang crime must be included as a significant and element in the municipality’s assessment” of whether an intervention is justified, the agreement states according to Ritzau.

The relevant part of November’s political agreement is expected to be voted on in parliament this month.

READ ALSO: Denmark cracks down on gang crime with extensive new agreement

Last year, Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard told political media Altinget that family relations to a gang member could be a parameter used by authorities when assessing whether a child should be forcibly removed from parents.

In the May 2023 interview, Hummelgaard called the measure a “hard and far-reaching measure”.

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