Four people suspected of 'helpdesk fraud' were arrested in Antwerp last week. The suspects would call their victims from a downtown hotel and pretend to be police officers. They then visited their victims' homes stealing money, bank cards and jewelry. They allegedly got their hands on 200,000 euros in this way.
The suspects are believed to have been involved in large-scale helpdesk fraud after they set up a 'call centre' of their own from where they called their victims.
The fraudsters posed as employees of the federal police, telling victims suspicious transactions had been made using their bank card. They then asked for the PIN code and suggested they could come and collect the card at their victim's home.
Once at the victim's home, the fraudster not only accepted the bank cards, but also money and jewelry 'for safekeeping'. The cards were used to make purchases and withdraw cash.
Hotel searched
Thanks to CCTV police were able to follow a suspect into the hotel from where the gang appeared to operate. After investigation centring on this hotel, other suspects could be identified.
The police proceeded to search the hotel and four other addresses on Wednesday. A call centre had been installed in the hotel in order to make anonymous calls. Police also found 12 digipasses from different banks as well as 3,600 euros in cash.
Four suspects were arrested and at other addresses police also found a cold wallet (for crypto currencies), jewelry and a moped, which were then seized.
Most of the gang’s victims were very elderly or mentally vulnerable, according to the police.