Two men from Deventer have to go to jail for a few years because they have defrauded people via WhatsApp.
The two pretended to be relatives of the victims. They said they urgently needed money, for example to buy a new phone. To make the victim believe he was really dealing with a family member, they sent a photo of that relative that they had picked from the internet. Then a payment request followed.
They had the money transferred to an account in the name of a straw man or ‘money donkey’. Once the money was deposited, they withdraw it from an ATM. Hundreds of euros were taken from some victims, 12,500 euros for one victim.
The court finds that the two have abused the goodness and trust of others in a “cunning and unscrupulous way”.
One of the men was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison. The other was sentenced to 3 years in prison, partly for possession of weapons. They also have to pay back their victims tens of thousands of euros. On top of that comes a compensation.
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