Prosecutors seek up to 4.5 years for bank helpdesk fraud

The Openbaar Ministerie (OM) has demanded prison sentences of 4 to 4.5 years for three men from Groningen. The four suspects, aged 22, 24, 24 and 26, are accused of theft, fraud and possessing so-called lead lists of victims.

Prosecutors allege the men defrauded thirty victims in Limburg through bank helpdesk fraud, in which callers pose as bank employees. The OM says such fraudsters target elderly people and, following a fixed script, pressure them into giving access to their computers and handing over bank cards.

The OM says the three suspected co-perpetrators called all the victims from shared lead lists using two work phones. In court, the prosecutor said:

Each of the participants fulfilled an indispensable role, which was an essential contribution to the ultimate goal: seizing as much money as possible.Prosecutor, in court

For the fourth suspect, aged 24, the OM demands a 200-hour community service order and a four-month suspended prison sentence. Prosecutors consider his role subordinate and call him an accomplice, not a co-perpetrator. They say he helped collect bank cards in at least two cases.

The first reports reached police in January 2022. In the last week of that month, police received 11 reports against people posing as bank staff, who allegedly used the AnyDesk program to transfer money from the reporting victims' accounts, or tried to. Police arrested three of the suspects in a home in Groningen on 2 March 2022. Checks of phones and online messages then linked them to similar frauds and led to the fourth suspect.

The district court will give its ruling on 18 December.