A 29-year-old man from Amsterdam was arrested last week for involvement in fraud via fake news sites, the tax investigation service FIOD reports. Victims ended up on those websites through online advertisements in which the identities of well-known Dutch people such as Ali B. and Jort Kelder were used to convince people to invest money.
In addition to the arrest, buildings in Amsterdam, Velserbroek and Sweden were also searched. Millions of euros were seized from real estate, cars, cryptocurrencies and bank accounts at home and abroad.
The Amsterdammer is suspected of having led a criminal organization. That organization set up several fake news campaigns. The identity of famous Dutch people was abused, or names and logos of Dutch news sites were abused.
Photos and quotes from celebrities
In those advertisements, which can still be seen in some places, well-known Dutch people are quoted in which they say that they have achieved a considerable return on an investment. In reality, that’s a made-up quote, writes NH News. Anyone who clicks on the link will end up on a fake website with messages that make it appear that the celebrities have made the statements in a renowned talk show.
Anyone who leaves their details will be called at a later time for help with creating an account and with the first deposit. Once that is done, calls will be made more often and people will be tempted to put in more money. “The money deposited is transferred to various foreign bank accounts. Victims have often lost their money,” reports the FIOD.
Tens of millions
A server of the criminal organization contained data of more than a million people. The tax investigation service thinks that tens of thousands of people worldwide eventually invested money and became victims. The damage is believed to be in the tens of millions. The investigation of the Dutch Public Prosecution Service focuses exclusively on activities that allegedly took place in the Netherlands.
Since the ads are still popping up, FIOD is calling on websites that “not (yet) actively remove these ads to do more to keep these types of ads off their platforms”.
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