The Dutch Bank Helpdesk Fraud Landscape (2024)

In a case of alarming bank helpdesk fraud in the Netherlands, spanning from October to December 2020, elderly citizens were conned out of €128,000.

Posing as bank employees from ING or ABN Amro, the scammers, hailing from Den Helder, Schagen, and Den Haag, convinced their elderly victims to hand over bank details and PINs, claiming to secure their accounts against fraud.

The victims were instructed to leave their bank cards in envelopes for collection, leading to substantial financial loss as the scammers withdrew thousands of euros using these cards.

The prosecutor, highlighting the significant emotional and financial impact on the victims, has demanded sentences up to 40 months for the accused.

In an unsettling series of events last summer in The Hague, cashtraps were used to swindle money from unsuspecting ATM users.

These devices, essentially cover plates, were fixed over the cash dispensing slots of ATMs, trapping the money intended for withdrawal.

Victims, believing the ATM was malfunctioning as no cash was dispensed, would leave empty-handed, allowing the perpetrator to later retrieve the trapped cash.

On September 28th, 2023, a breakthrough in Rotterdam led to the arrest of a 39-year-old Romanian man with no fixed address in the Netherlands, linked to these crimes through CCTV footage.

He confessed to the police, admitting to stealing around €600 using this deceptive method.

In a disturbing case of bank helpdesk fraud, a notorious scam has resurfaced, targeting the elderly and vulnerable.

Criminals posing as bank employees call unsuspecting victims, claiming their bank accounts are compromised.

These criminals, who also stole jewelry and phones under the guise of ‘bank security’, left their victims financially and emotionally devastated.

They coerce victims to hand over their bank cards and PINs, supposedly for security reasons.

Once collected, these criminals swiftly plunder the victims’ bank accounts.

Recently, the Dutch Public Prosecutor demanded prison sentences of 2 years for three men from Eindhoven, Ittervoort, and Heerlen.

On January 15th and 16th, 2024, an important breakthrough occurred in the fight against cybercrime in The Netherlands.

The police’s cybercrime team in Noord-Holland arrested five individuals in Zaandam, suspected of involvement in cybercrimes including money laundering and computer intrusion.

Among the arrested were two minors, allegedly masquerading as company representatives to fraudulently acquire login credentials for email accounts and crypto wallets.