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Police arrested two men accused of scamming 170 victims and stealing nearly €380,000 (approximately $400,000) in the Netherlands.
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The scammers used AI voice recordings and posed as bank workers to trick victims into using a phone app to scan their bank cards.
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Banks and police advise caution, no real bank would ask users to download extra apps, tap cards to a phone, or share their PIN.
Dutch police have arrested two men over a new kind of bank phone scam. Investigators say the scheme drained about €380,000 (~$425,000) from 170 victims in a matter of weeks.
Police arrested the suspects on October 6. Officers also said they had never seen this method before. In short, it turned each victim’s own phone into a tool for emptying their account.
How the Scam Worked
The victims first got a phone call. A recorded voice warned them about suspicious activity on their bank account. It asked them to press 1 if they had not caused it. Police say the scammers used artificial intelligence to make dozens of these recordings. Each one had a different voice, bank, company, or story.
Next, hold music played. Then a caller posing as a bank employee came on the line. The caller followed a script and pushed for speed. According to police, the story was that the victim’s bank card had to be blocked right away.
To do that, victims had to download an app and hold their bank card against the phone. Modern cards carry a small chip for contactless payments. The app read that chip and passed its data to a second copy of the app.
Meanwhile, an accomplice stood at an ATM with that second app open. Police call these helpers “pinners,” a Dutch term for people who withdraw cash. With the live data, they took out money. As a result, victims often lost thousands of euros without noticing.
DutchNews.nl described a slightly different opening. In that version, a recording told victims to check whether their bank had put Google Pay on their phones. When they found nothing, they were told to press 1. The outlet also reported that helpers tried to use the card’s PIN. However, the police did not mention that detail in their own statement.
The victims lived all over the country. Police say they ranged from their twenties to their eighties. Dozens were in their twenties and thirties. Ruben van Well, who leads the Rotterdam cybercrime team, noted that many young people lost money. That finding challenges the idea that only older people fall for phone scams.
The Police Bust and Suspect Arrest
The case began in mid-September. Dutch banks told the Electronic Crimes Task Force that customers faced a new kind of fraud. This group brings together banks, police, and prosecutors.
Within days, the Rotterdam cybercrime team could see the scammers’ servers. Over about three weeks, officers watched the damage grow to 170 victims. In total, less than four weeks passed between the first warning and the arrests.
Police arrested the two men on October 6. Local media reported that officers caught them in the act in Epe. Investigators suspect the 23-year-old from Vaassen of being the technical expert. They also believe he directed the others. The 25-year-old from Ede allegedly played a coordinating role.
Officers then took the servers offline. They also seized the suspects’ phones and laptops and are studying the data. Dutch media reported that police shut down the fake app and seized cryptocurrency. DutchNews.nl put the amount at hundreds of thousands of euros. Police have not confirmed that figure in their statement.
In a separate operation, Dutch police also shut down a criminal hosting service used for dark web activities, highlighting their wider efforts to disrupt online crime.
On October 20, a Rotterdam court extended the suspects’ detention by at least 90 days while they waited for a hearing. Neither man has been convicted.
Police chose their targets with care. Van Well said arresting ATM helpers does little to stop a scam, because they are easy to replace. Instead, officers went after people in key roles. Further arrests remain possible, he said.
The Trend is Spreading all over Europe
Similar tricks have surfaced elsewhere in Europe. For example, security firm ESET found malware that targeted customers of three Czech banks. Czech police later arrested a suspect who was withdrawing cash at an ATM in Prague. Polish analysts at CERT Polska also described a similar campaign in 2025. Still, Dutch police said this exact method was new to them.
A security team lead at the Dutch Banking Association credited the quick teamwork between banks, police, and prosecutors. Without it, the scam could have run much longer.
How to Protect Yourself
Police gave plain advice. Keep in mind that a financial institution will never urge you to download their app, share your card details, or even your PIN. So, hang up whenever the call feels fishy. Then call your bank using the number on its official website. Also check the caller’s number, and never install apps from links in texts or WhatsApp messages.
Two warning signs show up in nearly every scam. Scammers build trust, sometimes by quoting personal details about you. They also add pressure, because stressed people think less clearly.
If you fall for it, act fast. First, call your bank and ask it to check your account. Permit the financial institution to restrict the account or halt all payments if necessary. Finally, report it to the police and preserve every message you get.
