The Dordrecht police have arrested four people who allegedly defrauded tenants with squatted rooms. Victims were given a tour of homes that the providers did not own at all.
According to the police, the suspects offered homes for rent via Facebook that they had entered with false keys or by drilling out the cylinders. These were apartments of housing associations that were vacant pending renovation.
At least seven viewers paid an advance for a house that was not for rent at all. In one case, a victim had already moved into the building when the housing association was surprised at the door for a check.
Seizure of bank accounts
After several reports, the police arrested a 31-year-old woman from Rotterdam and three men aged 17, 21 and 24 from Dordrecht. Several bank accounts have been seized in order to be able to repay the victims.
The police recommend that such fraud can be discovered by obtaining information from neighbors or by looking up the owner of the building in the Land Registry.
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