- Norwegians are being scammed into purchasing Gold and abandoning it in forests or public parks after being promised secure storage by fraudsters.
- The scheme, reported by Finans Norge, employs “pig-butchering” tactics such as building fake romantic interest over time before making the request.
- Gold’s relative Anonymity makes recovery difficult, and similar “gold courier scams” cost U.S. victims $311.8 million in 2025, per the FBI.
- Unlike U.S. cases where victims meet couriers, Norwegian victims are told to leave gold unattended in public spaces.
Norwegians are falling victim to a novel scam where they are induced to buy gold and then leave it in forests or public parks, according to Finans Norge. The scammers persuade victims to purchase gold under the guise of safe-keeping, then arrange a meeting that never happens.
Victims are ultimately instructed to leave the gold in a public location after the scammer claims they cannot attend. Some cases involve “pig-butchering” techniques, where fraudsters build trust through fake romantic interest over a prolonged period.
Because gold is largely anonymous, tracking and recovering the stolen assets is extremely difficult. However, this scheme is not unique to Norway—the FBI‘s 2025 Internet Crime Report documented approximately 725 complaints and $311.8 million in losses from similar “gold courier scams.”
The FBI describes the scam in nearly identical terms, though American victims typically meet a courier rather than abandoning gold in woods. This difference may reflect varying levels of social trust between the two countries.
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