Police warn about sharp rise in scammers pretending to be cops

Several regions in the Netherlands have had reports of scammers pretending to be police officers. The police in Oost-Brabant received five reports of these fake officers in January, which has since risen to 109 reports in May. Police in the Noord-Nederland District warned people this week to be wary of the fake officers.

The police and the Public Prosecution Serviceare very worried about these developments. “It is usually targeting vulnerable groups of older people with an average age of 78,” the police in Oost-Brabant District said. They claim that the scammers are successful 20 percent of the time in obtaining money or valuable loot.

Criminals pretending to be officers contact their victims by phone first. They will then say things like, for example, that burglars are targeting the victim's home and that somebody from the police will come by later to keep things safe.

Earlier this month, a 19-year-old from Eindhoven and a 20-year-old from Tilburg were arrested for pretending to be police officers. The two were involved in a call last Thursday to a woman who was 66 years of age from the municipality of Maasdriel. The caller pretended to work for the police in Den Bosch. He said that he had arrested three people who were planning to break into the woman and her man’s house and asked whether there were any valuable items in the house.

The woman felt that this was suspicious and handed a different phone to her husband, who called the police. She then kept the so-called officer on the line and agreed that somebody would come by later to get the valuable items. When the 19-year-old from Eindhoven arrived at her home later and rang the doorbell, he was arrested. The 20-year-old from Tilburg was arrested on Tuesday.

Officers warned people to be extra alert and emphasize that the police never ask to keep items or money safe. “Share the prevention tips with your parents, grandparents, or other people that you know could be susceptible to these types of criminals using the police’s name,” the police in Oost-Brabant added.