Over the past two weeks, 24 suspects in or near Deventer have been arrested for committing fraud on Whatsapp. The suspects range between the ages of 15 to 40 years old.
A classic case of a “friend-in-emergency” fraud, the perpetrators pretended to be friends or relatives of the victims, faking a new number and asking victims for (evidently) a large sum of money that they claimed they needed as soon as possible, RTL Nieuws reports.
Some of the perpetrators were not the ones messaging, but made their accounts available for money deposit, serving as “money mules” or those who transfer illegally acquired money on behalf of others, obtaining a small fraction of the transferred money for profits.
After questioning, the suspects that were arrested were released shortly after. However, the police are not ruling out the possibility of additional arrests.
What should you look out for?
Avoid transfer money from Whatsapp messages or e-mails— more often than not they will be scams. Trust your gut, and be careful with what information you choose to disseminate online.
M'n moeder kreeg scam appjes. Ze trapte er gelukkig niet in. Speelde even mee terwijl ze ondertussen aangifte deed. Maar vertel je ouders nog een keer extra dat ze hiervoor waken. pic.twitter.com/hNwLnqlWZz
— Pascal Vanenburg 🎧 (@vnnbrg) April 27, 2020
Have you ever received an e-mail or message similar to this? Let us know in the comments.
Feature Image: StockSnap/Pixabay
