Finans Norge, Norway’s financial industry association, warned on Oct. 22 that scammers are persuading victims to spend large sums on gold, promising to hold it for them, and then telling them to leave the metal in forests, parks, or other outdoor locations for later collection.
The association said the first case was reported in spring 2026. More recent incidents have been concentrated in Oslo, Bergen, and other cities. It did not publish the number of cases or the losses tied specifically to this gold scheme.
The pitch starts with online ads and follow-up calls
According to Finans Norge’s anti-fraud director, victims typically first see online advertisements for gold and then receive sales calls after showing interest. The caller says gold will appreciate and offers to store it until the victim is ready to sell.
Once the victim has bought the gold, the person who was supposed to collect it suddenly says they cannot make the meeting. The victim is then told to place the gold in a “safe place,” where someone else will pick it up later. The association said this setup keeps victims from seeing who is actually behind the fraud.
The drop-off point may be a city park, a forest, or even a ditch. Victims believed they would be meeting a trustworthy asset company in the forest and that the gold would then be held on their behalf.
Association says gold is being used to get around bank controls
Finans Norge said banks have become better at stopping fraudulent transfers, and that the move to physical gold appears intended to avoid those controls. If victims buy the gold themselves and hand it over, banks cannot track the transfer in the same way.
The gold is usually genuine and legally purchased by victims from local jewelry stores. In that structure, the victim’s money goes to a legitimate merchant, while the scam group does not need to directly handle a bank transfer. The person collecting the gold may present themselves as a legitimate gold or collectibles dealer, or as a representative of a currency exchange company.
Some victims were first approached with crypto investment offers
The association also said scammers do not always begin with a gold pitch. In some cases, they first try to sell victims on cryptocurrency investments. If the victim refuses, they switch to gold and describe it as the safer option.
Figures compiled by E24 showed that gold prices rose about 110% over the past three years. The price per ounce increased from $1,970 to $4,085, and briefly approached $5,512 per ounce at the end of January this year.
No case count or loss total released for the gold scheme
Finans Norge has not released case numbers or loss data for the scam involving gold left in forests or parks. The association did say that banks and customers in Norway lost NOK 962 million to all types of fraud in 2025, equal to about NT$3.35 billion.