Man scammed with promise of €1 million after 12-hour search for missing car

A Danish man spent 12 hours driving back and forth between Thy and Aarhus after his father-in-law fell victim to a scam and then forgot where he had parked his car, DR reports.

The man’s father-in-law, who lives in Thy, was lured to Aarhus by a scammer promising him €1 million. After driving over two hours to Danske Bank’s branch on Jægergårdsgade, he realised he could not locate the bank without GPS. He then left his blue Toyota Yaris and took a taxi instead.

When the promised money failed to materialise, the family discovered another problem: the father-in-law had also forgotten where he parked the car.

Mads Vester, the man’s son-in-law, made three round trips between Thy and Aarhus before finally locating the vehicle on Friday.

“It’s been a huge search effort to find the car. But it was fantastic when we finally did,” Vester told DR. “It’s important we share this story so we all remember to be critical of messages we receive on social media.”

Vester added that while the situation had serious aspects—including the risk of losing personal belongings left in the car—he tried to find humour in the ordeal.

“You have to laugh a little, even though there are serious elements to this story,” he said. “No one is just going to give you free money.”

The family now hopes the incident will serve as a warning about online scams targeting vulnerable individuals.