Increase in criminals pretending to be police; 167 arrests and 700 reports this year

The police have arrested 167 people this year who are suspected of pretending to be police officers to scam others. This is already more than the whole of last year when 132 people were arrested for this type of crime, said a police spokesperson. She expects more arrests for this type of crime in the coming period as many investigations are ongoing.

There has been a significant increase in fake police officer incidents in the last three months. Over 700 criminal reports have been filed about these incidents. Especially the police units in The Hague, Oost-Brabant, and Oost-Nederland had to deal with the crimes. The Amsterdam police unit is the only one where the criminal reports of fake police officers have not increased, the police reported on Thursday.

The police have been bringing attention to the increase in scamming incidents involving fake police officers for a while. There were around 400 incidents last year, whereas around 3,400 incidents are known to the police this year.

Police said last month that the number of incidents in the television crime reporting show Opsporing Verzocht was 2,400. A police spokesperson explained that the difference has to do with "lag effects and registration effects." Sometimes, for example, people report an incident much later than it happened.

People who are guilty of this crime usually pretend to be local police officers. They usually call older people to tell them there was a break-in in their area and that they are concerned about break-ins in the coming period. The fake officers then offer to keep potential valuables safe for the time being. If the victim accepts the offer, the fake police officer will come to the door, sometimes wearing clothing that resembles a police uniform and carrying a fake police badge.

"Victims usually know quickly that something isn't right," said Sybren van der Velden Walda, national project leader of the Seniors and Safety division at the police. "But the criminals put people under pressure to react quickly. They usually have personal information about the people, such as their children's names and bank accounts. That inspires confidence. These criminals put pressure on victims very cleverly."

Sometimes, victims are embarrassed by the fact that they were duped by the fake officers, said Van der Velden Walda. He stresses that it is always good to report what he calls a "cowardly fraudulent practice," even if nothing has been stolen.