Religious orders at a total of seven monasteries in Flanders have fallen victim to fraud committed by cybercriminals that got hold of their bank details through phishing. An 18-year-old man has been in custody in connection with the fraud since the end of last month. However, he is not believed to be the mastermind behind the phishing gang.
The gang came to the attention of the police when an 18-year-old man attempted to pay an Antwerp Jeweler for a Breitling watch costing 9,800 euro with money that he had transferred from the account of a convent in the East Flemish town of Wetteren. He was arrested and has been in custody ever since.
Further investigation revealed that fraudsters were posing as bank employees to enable them to take money from the convent’s account. The convent in Wetteren is not the only religious order to have been defrauded. Tens of thousands of euro have been taken from the account of a convent in Oudenaarde (East Flanders). Meanwhile, the account of a religious order in the West Flemish town of Tielt has also been plundered.
The Diocese of Ghent says that a total of 7 religious communities have been defrauded in this way recently and that this would indicate that a criminal gang is targeting religious orders. Monasteries and convents are often largely populated by elderly people with considerable financial means that may have difficulty using technology.
Detectives warn religious orders to be on their guard if they receive phone calls or emails from people claiming to be from their bank or people that “need to take over their computer for some reason or another”. Do not allow external software to be installed at the behest of someone that has telephoned email you and hang up if a call is suspicious.
The 18-year-old that is in custody is not thought to be the mastermind behind the gang. Other suspects are still being sought.