Antwerp - Belgium: Europe and the Arabs
Belgian police in the city of Turnhout, bordering the Netherlands, arrested four people who were alleged to be the leaders of an organized fraud ring. According to the police, they are suspected of carrying out a whole series of help desk and bank card frauds, with victims falling throughout the Dutch-speaking half of Belgium.
According to police, the gang members posed as bank employees to make unsuspecting victims believe that suspicious transactions had occurred in their bank accounts. “In most cases, the victims also shortly afterwards encountered a fake bank employee who absconded with the victims’ bank card, which they used shortly thereafter to make cash withdrawals or expensive purchases,” police said.
Another method used by scammers is to install Anydesk on the victim's computer. Anydesk is a program that allows you to share your screen with someone else and even allow others to control your computer remotely.
Raids in Antwerp
The gang's total looting amounted to hundreds of thousands of euros. Turnhout police have been tracking down the scammers in recent weeks and have identified four suspects. Last week, two apartments were raided in Antwerp. Three adults and a minor were arrested. Two of the adults currently remain in prison, and the minor has been placed in a closed youth facility. Police also raided a temporary call center and confiscated 7 computers, 15 mobile phones and firearms, in addition to a quantity of cash and luxury goods.
The police stressed in its statement to citizens that real bank employees never come to your home unless you explicitly request it, and that it is better not to respond to requests from strangers to install programs such as Anydesk or Teamviewer.