Criminals used data breach at call center to scam the elderly

• 22 October, 2021
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A group of criminals has defrauded dozens of elderly people through bank help desk fraud. They used telephone numbers that they had obtained during a data breach from, among other things, a call center, the police reported on Friday.

Bank help desk fraud (also known as spoofing) is a type of fraud where scammers call from an existing bank phone number. Then they pose as a bank employee to steal money from people.

The suspects, who all come from the middle or east of the Netherlands, targeted victims aged 75 years or older. Due to a data breach at a call center, among other things, they had access to the personal data of 92,000 potential victims.

It is not clear how many people have actually become victims. According to the police, dozens of reports have been received from all over the Netherlands that can be linked to the group. The total damage amount is more than 35,000 euros.

Ten suspects between the ages of 18 and 71 have been arrested in the case. The people were arrested at the end of last year and this year. Two men have since been sentenced to one and two years in prison. The other eight people are still awaiting sentencing.

The police found the suspects through an employee of a holiday park in Ede. He found printers, letters with details from a bank and several telephones in a holiday home. The person thought this was suspicious and called the police.