Norwegian Banks Warn of Forest Gold Scam

Following a stranger's instructions to leave your gold in a forest is not a wise investment strategy, Norway's main banking lobby warns. Finanse Norge says scammers have convinced several bank customers to spend large sums on gold and leave it out in nature, on the promise that others will guard it while its value climbs, Bloomberg reports.

• "Be very skeptical if someone contacts you and asks you to invest in gold or other valuables. Do not hand over valuables to strangers or leave them in places following instructions from others," Gry Nergard, Finanse Norge's director of anti-fraud, said in a news release.

Finans Norge calls the ploy one of three fraud tactics banks are urgently flagging, along with efforts to target employees who have access to company bank accounts and scams offering free gifts from cosmetics chain Lyko. It didn't reveal how much gold was involved, but says financial scams drained the equivalent. of about $100 million from Norwegian banks and their customers last year, even as lenders managed to stop more than $375 million in attempted fraud.