Overview
- The joint operation, which began with three suspects caught in the act on March 4, expanded to five more arrests on March 9.
- Suspects posed as bank or crypto-exchange staff, sent phishing texts, and told victims to install antivirus tools and AnyDesk so they could view screens and seize control of bank accounts and crypto wallets.
- Investigators linked more than 40 reports to a single ring and estimate total losses at about €1.7 million.
- Searches of homes, a car, and a business yielded data carriers, hardware crypto wallets, luxury goods, and a firearm with ammunition.
- Team Cybercrime Midden-Nederland worked with district detectives in Utrecht and Drenthe, and the case remains under investigation with court dates not yet set.