Romania detains 3 Dutch people for phishing scams; Fourth held in Enschede

The Dutch and Romanian police detained four people, three in Romania and one in the Netherlands, suspected of defrauding nearly a thousand victims, mainly through phishing on online marketplaces. They stole more than a million euros in this way, the Dutch police said.

The police tracked down the suspects after the Digital Crime Team of the Central Netherlands Police linked a suspicious telephone number from a report to many digital fraud cases.

The victims were often “people who were already in a difficult situation that was abused in a nasty way,” said investigator Jouke Posthumus. “We were extra motivated to arrest these suspects.”

On Tuesday, February 28, the police arrested one man in Romania and one in Enschede. A third man was arrested in Romania on March 3. The suspects are two men from Ensched aged 33 and 26, and a 27-year-old man without a fixed place of residence. The Romanian police also questioned a fourth suspect.

According to Posthumus, the investigation was a success thanks to the many victims who filed a police report and good cooperation with the Romanian police. “Our next step is to contact all the victims to spread the good news and listen to their stories again. That is also part of our work.”