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CRIME

Denmark to toughen sanctions on coronavirus crimes

Denmark's government will on Thursday submit a second emergency coronavirus law to parliament, which will toughen punishments for coronavirus-related crimes, allow police to ban access to places they deem an infection risk, and make it easier to lower the size of allowed groups.

Denmark to toughen sanctions on coronavirus crimes
Justice Minister Nick Hækkerup said that the tougher sanctions were about sending a signal. Photo: Ida Guldbæk Arentsen/Ritzau Scanpix
At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, the country's justice minister Nick Hækkerup said that the government planned to quadruple the sanction on any companies caught fraudulently claiming funds under the government's financial aid packages.
 
It will also double the punishment on those who steal hand sanitiser or protective equipment from hospitals or pharmacies. “Going forward, you will go to jail if you commit that crime,” he said. 
 
The minister conceded that the toughened punishments were primarily about sending a signal to potential fraudsters or thieves. 
 
“We hope that it will make an impression when we multiply the punishments,” he said. “When we find that someone is abusing the situation to enrich themselves, we would like to signal that as a society, that is something we disavow.” 
 
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After the press conference, DR reported that a letter from Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to the chairman of the Danish parliament, Henrik Dam Kristensen, showed that other additional measures would be proposed on Thursday. 
 
There would also be legislative amendments which empower the government to reduce the maximum allowed group below ten at short notice. 
 
The new law would allow the government to ban access to new categories of place, such as playgrounds, without consulting parliament, and it would also empower the police to ban access to any specific place the health authorities deem an infection risk. 

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CRIME

‘More Danes than ever’ victims of digital crime

Almost 190,000 people in Denmark were the victims of IT-related crime in 2023, according to new figures.

'More Danes than ever' victims of digital crime

The number, released by the Danish Crime Prevention Council (Det Kriminalpræventive Råd) represents a significant increase on the previous year’s figure of 150,000.

Denmark’s justice ministry, national police and the University of Copenhagen all work with the Crime Prevention Council in an annual study which tracks the figure through contact with victims.

It represents a trend which is unlikely to slow down in coming years, according to the Council’s director Erik Christensen.

“Technological advances mean that there are more and more doors through which the criminals can walk in relation to scamming us normal members of the public,” he told newswire Ritzau.

The emergence of AI could make it even more likely that people become subjected to digital fraud attempts, he said.

The study found that online payments and abuse of payment information were most common types of fraud defined as IT-related.

But “contact fraud”, in which scammers contact targets by email, telephone or online, is also on the rise.

The figure for that specific type of crime went from 13,000 in 2022 to 47,000 last year.

READ ALSO: Danish courts issue warning over SMS scam

“Our best advice is that if each of us takes good time when we get an email or SMS… and check whether it is [actually] from the Tax Agency, municipality or bank,” Christensen said.

He also advised asking a family member or trusted person for a second opinion before answering any email or SMS, if in doubt.

In the most common type of IT crime – online transactions – some 85,000 people in Denmark last year lost money to scams such as fake web shops or trades with private individuals.

Another form – which hit 64,000 people – involves purchase of a fake or counterfeit item.

Some 76,000 people were victims of having their bank card details stolen and misused, some 19,000 more than in 2022.

“We must move away from shaming people who get scammed because anyone can fall victim to it. Even when you look at these numbers, we know there are also unreported cases,” Christensen said.

The Council director stressed the importance of victims of online fraud not feeling shame over what had happened.

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