Last Tuesday, March 26, the police arrested a 19-year-old man from Utrecht on suspicion of fraud. He is suspected of committing helpdesk fraud and may be linked to six fraud cases from across the country.
The various victims were contacted by telephone, each time with an excuse. For example, in the Bilthoven case, a 67-year-old woman was told on the telephone that a company had taken out a loan in her name; if she had not done so herself, it would be necessary to hand in all debit cards, credit cards and her telephone. A courier would come to pick this up. She was instilled with additional fear with the excuse that the police were concerned about her safety because her data was allegedly in the hands of dangerous criminals. The victim was very worried and fell for the scam.
A little later someone was indeed at the lady’s door. The victim gave her belongings, including valuables. According to the scammer, these would be secured at the police station. Later, several thousand euros were withdrawn with her debit card.
Several things
Central Netherlands Police started an investigation following the case in Bilthoven. After camera images of the suspect were shown in the Bureau Hengeveld investigation program, things became too hot for the man. He reported to the police by telephone. There also appeared to be several cases in the rest of the Netherlands involving this suspect. The man emerged in investigations from Utrecht, Borne, Enschede, Harderwijk and Volendam. The East Utrecht district detective united the cases and on Tuesday, March 26, the police arrested the suspect, a 19-year-old man from Utrecht. The man is estimated to have stolen more than 60,000 euros worth of money, jewelry and other valuable items through his scams.
The police have not ruled out multiple arrests in this investigation.
