The Dutch police have published the faces of 79 suspected nepagenten (fake police officers) and fraud suspects on their website, social media, television, and billboards.
As part of the “Game Over!?” campaign, police are soliciting help from the public to track down scammers who have been posing as police officers and bank employees to rob people across the country — and who have been especially targeting the elderly.
The story goes that a fake police officer calls an Oma (grandma) with a frightening story about a nearby burglary. The fraudster then shows up at the victim’s door to “secure” her valuables.
Aside from debit cards and large sums of cash, this is how the wedding ring of a woman’s deceased husband was stolen in Beek en Donk, reports NOS.
When did it get out of hand?
The scale of the problem is hard to ignore.
The number of reports against fake police officers reached 13,000 in 2025. The Fraudehelpdesk addressed 100,000 cases of fraud last year, where damages exceeded €68 million.
Exactly two weeks ago, police published 100 blurred photos of wanted scammers that were caught on doorbell cameras, CCTV, and ATMs. The ultimatum was clear: come forward within two weeks, or your face will go fully public.
After some suspects turned themselves in or were identified through tips, 21 images were removed from the collection. The remaining 79 are now unblurred and visible on the campaign website and across the country.
Daan Annegarn of the National Investigation Communications Team tells NOS, “The campaign is so effective that some detectives have had to work overtime in recent weeks.”
“We see this not only from the tipsters who are contributing ideas en masse, but also in companies that are selflessly offering digital screens for the campaign,” Annegarn adds.
But is it… legal?
Uploading photographs of unconfirmed individuals into the public eye is a big deal.
However, all 100 cases were reviewed by a public prosecutor before their release. A police spokesperson tells NOS, “It is drastic, but on the other hand, the impact of the crimes is also very significant.”
Do you know anyone on the list? Tips can be submitted via the contact form on each individual’s profile on the campaign website, by calling the free tip line on 0800 6070, or anonymously on 0800 7000.
Once someone is identified, their photo comes down immediately.
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Well well well can we recognize a pattern here?