Since August, thousands of Dutchies have received suspicious phone calls in which cyber-criminals try to get their personal information, such as citizen service (BSN) numbers.
“This is to inform you that your BSN number has been closed down due to criminal activity. Send your BSN number to…”
Over the past few weeks, the Fraud Helpdesk has received 2,300 reports of suspicious phone calls like this, RTL Nieuws reports.
Fake police
According to a spokesperson, “The callers often pretend to be from the National Police or the Dutch Supreme Court.” When victims answer the phone, they hear a prerecorded message in English. This is usually something like, “Your social security number is being misused” or “You have an arrest warrant against you.” 😅
Victims are then asked to enter a number. After this, they’re transferred to an “agent” or police officer, who asks them for more information or to transfer money.
Who’s really behind this?
These are mostly cyber-criminal groups from different parts of the world who work together to scam people and steal their money. 🙅♂️ Sometimes they are from Africa or Eastern Europe and their English and Dutch is niet zo goed. But there are also plenty of Dutch cybercriminals who speak Dutch well and appear pretty trustworthy.
How does the scam work?
There are a couple of ways that this scam works. If you’re called and you cooperate with the criminals, they may ask you to transfer money to buy off a fraud investigation.
It’s also common that the criminals will ask you to install a program on your computer so that they can help you with “remote assistance”. Don’t be fooled! They’re actually using this to spy on your computer, loot your bank account, and steal passwords and credit card information.
If they are able to access this kind of sensitive private data it’s often used for identity fraud.
What should you do if you get one of these calls?
The answer to this question is pretty simple: hang up. 🙂
Tip: in general, any legitimate organisation such as a bank or the police will never ask you for payment details or to install software on your phone or computer.
What are your thoughts on this new form of phishing? Have you received any of these strange calls? Tell us in the comments below!
Feature Image: GaudiLab/Depositphotos
Just had this call and i was just like come arrest me you wanker but it was a pre recorded audio sounds xD
Just had this type of call as well. They used a prerecorded message where they pretend to be employees from amazon. They ask you to install an app so they can have access to your mobile phone.
I just had a call this morning…..the police are coming to arrest you due to fraudulent activities! A pre-recorded message in English (American accent)…stay on the line to hear what you must do next…I just hung up 🙂
I have been called by those criminals and followed their instructions because they called me from the supreme court of NL phone number!! That’s how they are professional and know what they are doing .. so take care!
3 in our family have been called and all from a different Dutch mobile number.
Just got called. Recorded message on behalf of the Supreme Court, bsn fraud, request to press 1 to speak to a police officer before the investigation starts.
I saw my life flashing before my eyes! LOL
I was just called. After a recorded message and pressing 1 a guy told me to give him his name, postal code and BSN number. He had a thick Indian accent and told me he was calling from “National Police Corp office in Amsterdam”. I hung up.
I had the same but actually gave him my name and bsn number and then he hung up after swearing at me. It was only awt that point I realized it was a scam. But Im not sure what they can do with my BSN and name
Two times on this week somebody call two times dutch number and some woman Illina Killy … Police officer from Amsterdam. First time i sat my name and surname but after this i say F..Y.. because she want more information.
Just had a call. What made me think something was wrong was that it was an automated message in English. Very few companies in NL actually phone you and speaks English, unless you ask them to. Before pressing one, I ended the call and immediately checked whether there are any scams. Thanks for this post on Dutch Review!
Had the same call from the Dutch Supreme Court today, I hung up immediately.
Wow glad I found this post. I have received 2 calls so far and with the same automated voice message. This is the Supreme court of Netherlands and you will be under arrest for some money laundering and drug trafficking. Your BSN number is being used for more fraud and shit. Press 1 for more. I cut the call both the times aha.
Hello. Just had a call from +31621166133 informing about BSN revoke due to money laundry . I was quite confused because of the automated message in English and the call operator approach saying: give me your name so I will address to you better… When I tried to understand what was going on, sensed that was a scam and said: I’m going to the police station to clarify that. They hung up on me.
Same thing I did, I told them I was expressly instructed not to give my BSN to anyone, and I would go to the police office and clarify the situation.
They called me today from +31628219771 . All the same as described here. Thanks for sharing. I’m sorry I wasted about 20 minutes of my time on listening to this poor English.
Just got one of these calls and I was suspicious from the get go. I hung up when they said to press 1 and searched what they had stated to be sure. Turns out my gut instincts were right. It was a scam.
Called today, 3 times, was curious what was that, so answered one, but got me 1 sec to hung up and to block all 3 numbers. Automated message from Supreme court in NL, time to change my number, too many leaks recently
I’ve now received this call twice, each time from a different Dutch mobile phone number. The first time I hung up immediately after the automated message. The second time I pressed 1 just out of curiosity. I was put through to an Indian call centre in which the lady asked me how she could help as if I was the one calling her. We talked for a while and she kept pushing me to share my personal details which I refused to do. At some point she asked my to Google the Dutch Police Corps and gave me her badge number – of course this came up with nothing. In the end she gave up trying and hung up on me. An interesting thing is that the caller ID phone numbers being used are real people. My own number has also been used as the caller ID as I had someone call be asking about the message. Therefore it probably isn’t a good idea to be publishing those numbers online, as they are also victims.
Have been called twice now, two different numbers, but English voicemails. Have twice just hung up straight away. The first time I called the number back but of course they are just spoofing the numbers.
Ignore them. No institution will ever call you, with a voice message if it was so important.
Typical scam outfit originating from similar origins.
This needs to be spread further, as anyone could fall dupe for this process.
Two calls in a row now from the national police, after blocking the first number, the dutch national police called me with a german number. They really getting desperate, we just keep on blocking them 😉
0642404142, the call more than twice, horrible poor English and as soon as I said how the f$@& i got a voicemail for such a critical issue I will call my lawyer immediately he hanged up… man o man, what a crazy times…
I have been called over 5 times or more now! Just hung up again, I didn’t trust it right from the first call. If they want to arrest me, come knocking on my door. I didn’t do anything legal, so no worries from my side!
Wow, you didn’t do anything legal. LOL, I rest my case.
They’re still doing it, had the call today and freaked out for about 15 minutes until I realized it was a scam. There is also callcenter background noise, so they are doing this in mass!
Ya it happened to me just now. i almost had a heart attack.. i knew it was fishy when they started asking for bank transfer and all that. they called 4 times after that.
They called me today from this number +31 6 16 33 25 15
They called me today police something we will suspend your bsn number, funny fact 10 minut before i get email from a bank in which i owe money , so i was think what what they will suspend my bsn number that i cant work for 1000e of debt only, but i was lucky when i press 1 someone answer but didnt say anything and he finish call
They called me today and I pressed “1” . I was directed to the agent who asked me my postcode. I asked him “are you a scam?” he went silent for 2 secs and said “No I am not”
It was hilarious 😀
😀 😀 😀
Also just got this call, and when I asked why didn’t I get an official letter/email about this, they got a bit shaky. Scam!!
I got a call 10 times from 10 different Dutch number (Not mentioning them here as they are going to use our numbers for their further scams), same story of BSN being revoked due to money laundering activity and other shit. I hung up after 15 minute of conversation when they asked me to download some app on my mobile/laptop in order to share screen.
Just got this call, Right now, and i was wondering, if it were or not a SCAM, so I was pretending to be worrier to see where it leads, so, this guys who call himself SHAUN MARTIN, quite strange name here on Netherlands, seems more yankie but still…, so i proceed, he asked: Name, BSN, Info about: bank accounts and “How much money i had”, of which is said, i have 1 E in my Bank (: D), and 300e crypto (interesting they asked fro crypto, theya sked specially for bitcoin besides i use another new one, he was just interested on bitcoin (quite smart doesn´t him? haha), so since he heard i Have such low quatity He closed the call, and never called, a shame cuz i wanted to make a physical appointment and catch this morons ; C only remains my tears for catching them, have a nice day everyone xmas is almost here : D and this scamers know it 😉
I received a call too from the number +31626138697 with the same automated message saying “You have a police case filed based on your BSN number, press 1 for more information”. I hung up immediately.
Exact same process as discussed. Hung up after 10 secs. I mean the police if they call will first up speak in Dutch. Second they will not have a pre recorded message. Easy to realise. However this is growing everyday and expats should be aware.
I got a call yes from this
Number +31618297699
Say my my BSN got suspended
I have me completely shocked na confusion..
I don’t get a chance to answer the phone call when it rings..
But I got. Voicemail by robot
Sounds…
They are now calling people in Belgium as well.
Calling from +31200899116. I just hung up as soon as I heard the robot voice about “illegal transactions on your National Security Number”.
I know how to spot a scam, but it still sucks having your phone number targeted by them.
Just received a phone call (december15) from 0621211932 from supposedly the Dutch Supreme Court, guy presents himself as Ben Cooper, to tell me that my BSN number has been used for money laundering activity in Amsterdam. Refused to give my BSN number over the phone and hung up.
Today they’re calling from +31 6 27341903.
Tank’s for the head up!
Today they called up in +31 703707911
I lost 6000 euros. I am heartbroken and devastated. Why these idots target students?
Lol
Today I also got a call from “Ben Cooper” (similar to 3 posts before) from Dutch Supreme Court. English with an Indian accent and no automated message, but a real voice. He stated that my identity had been used for money laundry activity and to hire a car which was used for criminal activity. He had an arrest warrant on my name and he said that they also found several bank accounts with criminal money that they were going to take, but he wanted to secure mine. When I wanted to verify their identity they referred to the phone number they were calling from (+31 88 361 7000 from Dutch Supreme Court), but this number was not on my display (I’ve seen 4 different +31 6… numbers). When I continued on this they wanted to install a remote control application which I refused and I got off in time. Looking back it seems an obvious scam, but in the very beginning I got overwhelmed and unfortunately gave them a bit of personal info before my alarm bells started ringing.
I did this today as well! As an expat from the US, this is a very real thing that the US government could do so all seemed to check out until it didn’t…
I’ve just had the same call. seriously unsettling. Thankful for this thread that I googled while I was on the phone. wondering if they can do anything whilst I’m on the phone with them. I didn’t give away any serious detail but still feel really shook up and concerned about this.
Just got this call from Ben Cooper today – Indian/African accent – but the number was from +49 179 1349 147. He gave me his “Batch(?) number” and “Gas(?) number”. English was bad, line was very poor. He gave the same thing about my BSN being used for criminal activity and wanted to confirm things with me. I gave him my name (obviously a stupid thing in hindsight), but when he asked for the last 3 digits of my BSN to confirm, I challenged him and said that he should be confirming the BSN number with me because I won’t be giving him my number. He then scowled something under his breath in another language and hung up. I think quite a few old ladies might fall for this, but I’m from South Africa so I’m suspicious by default! How stupid of them to use the same name for these calls?
Just had one from +31636286034. Reassuringly similar to those posted on here, thank you all. Wouldn’t let me call it back, message states the number is not active (even though it appeared on my caller ID 30 seconds prior).
Today i had the same, very annoying, i was called by +31(0)6 18 68 07 53.
Same story as above, something with BSN and police, after pressing 1 i was directed to a very attractive sounding “(lady) police officer”. Since i have experience of almost being scammed and hacked by Indian accented people 4 yrs ago I am always prudent with INDIAN accents!
I told the lady: “I find it strange to receive a phone call regarding to provide my BSN-number by somebody with a very Indian accent”, after that phone call was directly ended from the (indian) police side………….. Everybody be warned!
wife got scammed, and gave the BSN number, i am pissed. what steps should i take now.
Just got the same call, from +31 627 563 810. Hung up. Best thing to do, and report it here, of course!
Bro they just called and i was scared because they sayd there was a warrant for my arrrest and then i just knew it was a scam because police dont ask for bank account info
Sus… bruh… very sus. Got something on your chest? >.>
Scammers are still operating. I just received a call from 06 2868 9555 from the ”National Police service” (no such thing). In English, recorded message, advising my BSN is about to expire and I will be arrested if I don’t respond urgently. Press 1. Did nothing & the call automatically disconnected after a few seconds. When I called the number back it was not in service “niet ingebruik”. No surprise. Scammers.
Had one from the ‘Ministry of Justice’ saying my BSN was being used for suspicious activity and was blocked. Told to press 1 for more information which I did, someone asked How can I help you? Said I was told to press 1 and the call ended.
Got a call from +31643201747
The Ministry of Justice scenario.
Just received a call from +31641764585. Recorded message. My BSN was being used for suspicious activity and was blocked. Told to press 1 for more information. I ended the call.
Got a recorded voice message from +31622251830 today.. Said that BSN is going to be suspended because of the legal case. And Poor me had no idea that this fraud is going on so I pressed 1 to get more details. this directed me to a person claimed to be a police officer who was asking me my name and postal code so that he can pull the file which basically created this situation for me. That’s when my husband heard all this and asked some details back to him which this police officer could not answer. then we ended the call. I called up Digid care to confirm if there is any complaint against me which I am not aware about or had missed. But then they confirmed that there is nothing wrong and it was a phishing call. Being an expat my panic level was 10 folds 🙁
I just got the same phone call pretending to be from the Ministry of Justice. Recorded message. My BSN was being used for suspicious activity and was blocked. Told to press 1 for more information. the number was +31621393605
I got the call just now, hung immediately.
Searched online what it could be. This page clarifies alot.
Just received a call, he said his name was Steve Johnson, which didn’t sound like a Dutch name. He had a thick Indian accent. He gave me a Police ID number. The fact that he had a lot of background noise like a call center, which made me think it was a Police Call center. Told me the same about my BSN used to rent a car and there was a raid where my bank account and drugs were found. When I asked him if there was a website I could use to verify his identity he told me in an irritated voice that I should stop trying to be smart and that this is serious, I couldn’t imagine that Dutch police were this unpolite so I hanged up. After some minutes I got a class from a number from Spain and it was the same guy asking why did I hang up, and I just hanged up again and shut down my phone. I got really spooked because I am an expat. I immediately called the Dutch Police (Politie) and the officer kindly and quickly said that it’s a scam and I should hang up, that I shouldn’t worry. Beware!
Oh silly me. As an expat I believed that nonsense and give my BSN number and full name, zip code… and after good 20 minutes talking with these scammers started to think that hey, something is off. This guy started to ask how many bank accounts I have, how much money on it, install an app from Google apps… and I start to ask questions why are you calling and asking this kind of information, why police officer himself is not asking me these questions in person and if I have like 10 bank accounts in my name why they need me to show my phone screen with this app they supposed to have all that info in their possession,
lets say that …
Hanged up when they didn’t provide with the answers and immediately called the police, bank. Probably got called again from some other number, but was in shock what the hell happened and not picked up.
So yeah, guys be aware, they are still active.
It happened today, 8th of February.
I got a call from +31646946158 with a recording in English stating “it was the Dutch police and due to quarantine, my BSN was suspended and for more info press 1.”
I actually returned from the UK yesterday so believed it to be true but also, the Dutch would never speak in English unless you asked them to! dead give away. I pressed 1 and while the connection time was taking some time I hung up. So glad I did after reading this but how strange with the timing? just a coincidence?
Just to be sure, I call 1400 and they confirmed its never possible to have your BSN suspended.
I just got a call from +31619528543 (Saturday at 11:04 AM) with a recording in English stating it was “…the National Police Corps of the Netherlands. Your BSN has been suspended due to fraudulent activity. For more info press 1.” I did not press but simply listened to the call and it hung up shortly afterwards.
I just got called as well from. German number. +496974485204
I hung up immediately. So fake.
Just got the call from +436767948770. Didn’t answer so they left a message with the remark Press one to talk to an operator
Got a call from an anonymous number telling me that my bsn is being used for money laundering and drug trafficking to press 1. The line transferred to some Sam Martin with batch number GW2314 and got a case file too then it just hung up. Is this real ? I am scared shitless
Just got a call from +41213016998 Didn’t answer so they left a VoiceMail message with the remark Press one to talk to an officer.
Some paranoid dingus on this planet is now franticly tapping 1 while listening to his voicemail 🙂
I always answer my phone with “hallo?”. I heared a computer voice in English saying the were from the department of justice. I immediately thought: phising crimimals; and hung up – rather bored actually. Two days later I was called again. Next time I’ll go into it and waste some of their time (and money).
Adding +31619888998 to the list of scammers…
Called today from +31620756153
Adding +31616822125 to the list of scammers
Seems that they are doing it again, int+31649250875. Seems that they have a lot of different numbers that they us.
2nd March: they are still doing it. Exactly the same pattern. Keep safe out there and thank dutchreview.com for this post!!
+31619694490
Called me today. Didn’t answer it. Got voicemail instead.
I live in America and I have been getting calls from numerous numbers that I haven’t answered and I get them 3 times daily. I don’t know anyone from the Netherlands so there really isn’t a reason why I should be getting calls. Here are a list of the numbers. I just want to numbers to stop calling me. I refuse to answer because I don’t want to pay international phone call fees with my phone carrier.
+31 9401558958
+31 8265659615
+31 (0) 944092059
+31 5824390769
+31 (0) 87 306 30 98
Hhhello
+3 +3
The number I was called from: +31 2 21677995. Same situation, asking for name zip code and BSN.
Lol. These scammers are so stupid… BSN can’t be suspended >...<
Lol. These scammers are so stupid… BSN can’t be suspended >..< I got the call too and was just listening in awe to the recording, there is like 5 red flags in the first sentence. Anyone falling for it should lay down their phones for a while and go outside and touch some f*cking grass. There is a while world out there trying to learn you something. Also… boycot anything Chinese/Russian if you're trying to be a decent person. Have a nice day guys. Lets stop rewarding criminals by looking away from their organized criminal behaviour and at least educate ourselves. The days of leaving a shoestring out of the mailbox are over. The devil is in town again and we're feeding the sonavabitch.
I got the call today. Fortunately I realised it was a scam and did not give bank account information. But be aware that they are back!
same today
“police department” shity fake
+49 4927118173
+49 4927322385
+31 6 26931682 the indian police is at it again.. today my wife’s just got called. Luckily, she stopped the call after a while. Maybe the main question we need to discuss here is, what are the risk if by chance any of us leaked our personal details.. and to which authority should we report to, knowing that this indian fake calls are happening nation wide. I think the authority should consider to provide a help desk or task force to hunt these jackasses down. Maybe some of us are strong enough to withhold information, but for some and mostly foreign students who know nothing, they might gonna need support. I’m just sayin’, you know..
I had a call today, I gave them my BSN number as they asked me to confirm it. I also gave them my name and home address, told them I was banking with ING and Lloyds in England. Would they be able to access my accounts if I didn’t tell them my bank details? I freaked out and realised after it was a scam when I asked them why do they want my bank details and that they can just sent a warrant to my door
I was called by them too. First a recorded message, then redirected to a man with an Indian accent. Said his name was John Danvan. The number was
621 998 172
+31 621998172
I was called today from +31 625113230 saying that my BSN number has been used for money laundering activity and drugs in Amsterdam.
They asked for my zip code and 3 last numbers of my BSN number. I’m new here and I was so scared that I have them!
What should I do? Already blocked them!
Because going to the police to give a number that when you try to call back says “This number is unavailable, you will be disconnected” won’t be such a help :/
Yip, I got the call today, same as all of you from number 0626 419168. First an English message saying it is the Ministry of Justice and there has been suspicious activity on your BSN number. Then spoke to a man with an Indian accent. When I told him I don’t feel comfortable sharing my address, since I’m not sure he is from the Ministry, he told me then I should hang up. WTF? Anyhow, reported to the police https://www.fraudehelpdesk.nl/
I was called 2 times, both cases same english recorded message about my “BSN about to be suspended due to suspicious activity”. Being an expat and not really knowing if it was possible I pressed 1 the first time, and got to talk to the indian lady who said “What can i do to help you” (Like i was the one making the call) and then asked for my Name and Last name, I gave those since its not a big deal, but then she asked for my postcode I started saying I wouldn’t since there was no actual proof of she being who she said she was, and she kept on pressing until I made it clear that with no further proof of who she was, I wasn’t going to provide any more information and if it was real I expected communication by mail and she hung up in the middle of my ranting…
I live in Kyrgyzstan, I had a missing call from +31 523 636 358, I don’t know anyone from Nethernalds.
Just got a call, I think it was an Indian guy. They called me about drugs and money laundering
Just had 2 calls, from different numbers. See them below.
People should always write down here the numbers from these scammers, so that if somebody else googles the numbers they can see it’s a SCAM.
+31 615197201
+31 615192146
Still at it, two calls like described, ‘suspicious activity regarding my BSN number’
+31685822078
+31685368803
The English speaking lady hung up after I asked how I could know if they’re legitimate. Then googled and found this…
I have had 3 calls today, first one was a number from Haarlem and was just silence so I hung up, then about 4 hours later another came through, this time with the recorded message about BSN numbers (i put the phone down), then an hour later same thing again.
Numbers are as follows:
+31232051291
+31685562082
+31685523611
It was very obviously a scam, the Dutch government is never going to contact you with a recorded message asking for your BSN. Just hang up if you get a call like this.
They called me today. Had a missed called 2 days ago but today I did answer and I was on the phone with them for like an hour til I realized it was a scam.
They basically did all the above and at some point they want to access remotely to my PC so thats the moment I realized it was fake! I gave some information away like my name, postal code and my bank balance but nothing else because they try to make sure you understand you are actually not disclosing any personal information so you trust them and then they give you the link to the remote access tool….
literally just received this call right now. it was from the number +31712497286. Even though it appeared as from Leiden on my phone, the idiot said he was calling from Amsterdam. He first asked me to confirm the last 3 digits of my bsn number which i did. Then I asked him how I could verify who he was. He told me he would shortly put me in touch with the case officer who would confirm his name, badge number and my case number. I hung up then.
They are still at it: “this is the Netherlands national police to advise you that your national identity has been misused, to get more information press 1”. I didn’t bother pressing 1.
I’ve got two calls in Belgium, each time in English a recorded message saying “This is the Belgian police, there was a case of identity fraud registered…”
As if the Belgian police will call me in English LOL.
Just hung up both times.
Sites like this are really useful to discover/confirm scams, thank you.
Same here. Called by “Dutch police, you’re ID is stolen” etc. Hung up.
Interestingly, the first 4 digits from the mobile number were the same as mine.