Norway’s Supreme Court rules man doesn’t have to pay million-kroner debt resulting from bankID fraud

The Norwegian Supreme Court ruled in favor of a man from Kristiansand, a victim of bankID fraud, releasing him from a million-kroner debt.

The Supreme Court’s ruling is historic, as it is the first time that the Supreme Court has taken up a case about a bank customer’s liability for bankID fraud, according to newspaper Dagens Næringsliv.

The ruling at the Supreme Court was unanimous. 

According to the court’s decision, the man “acted somewhat carelessly in his storage of the ID device.” 

However, the court still found that the man has not acted so negligently that it would trigger any liability.

Legal costs

Thus, Easybank has lost in front of the country’s Supreme Court and must also pay the man’s legal costs of around NOK 1,250,000.

“With this ruling, the Supreme Court has ruled that banks have a far greater responsibility for fraud involving bank IDs than they have so far taken. 

“This is, therefore, a victory for consumer rights,” director Inger Lise Blyverket at the Consumer Council noted in a press release.

A married couple has previously been convicted of using the man’s bankID to set up a total of 14 loans for a total of NOK 1,582,328. 

Easybank chose to direct its claims for compensation against the man from Kristiansand.

Keylogger used?

The man kept the bank pin code device in a locked locker at his workplace, and it has not been clarified how the couple who misused his bank ID obtained his password. 

The Supreme Court believes that it can not be ruled out that a so-called “keylogger” was used to retrieve the information.

According to rett24.no, the decision could impact a long stream of so-called ID theft cases, which currently abound in the court system.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today