Mechelen (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The court in Tongeren issued an 18-month prison term together with 180 hours of community service to two residents from Mechelen for taking 20,000 euros from a local Tongeren woman. The two individuals explained to an elderly woman of 93 years that her account had issues that required resolution.
A 20,000-euro theft was carried out by Mechelen residents who received convictions in Tongeren. The victim received a call from Card Stop’s supposed employees who reported unusual activity in her account on 20 August. They led her to place the bank card inside the machine before typing in her PIN. After stealing her account information, the criminals utilized it to order a 20,000 euro luxury watch.
Police officers made an arrest of the suspect during his attempt to pick up the watch from a jeweler. Both offenders received a prison term of 18 months and had to perform 180 hours of community service while the court required them to pay an 800 euro fine and provide 1,600 euros in restitution.
One of the accused called the victim on the phone, introducing himself as a Card Stop employee. He said there was a suspicious deposit to her account, and another representative would be coming to fix the problem. She arrived, and the second individual informed her to place her bank card in a device and enter her PIN.
She was unaware, however, that this gave the fraudsters access to her account. The stolen funds were later traced to the purchase of a luxury watch. One suspect was tracked to the jeweler’s store, where he was caught as he tried to get the watch.
How common are similar fraud cases in Belgium?
Over 6,000 cases of elderly financial fraud have been reported in Belgium last year alone, according to the Federal Police. More than a third of these incidents were related to scams involving fake bank employees, phishing calls and skimming your card.
In its current form, it costs the Belgian Finance Ministry more than €15,000 per fraud victim case, and criminals frequently pillage senior citizens’ unfamiliarity with online banking. Such scams increased by a quarter in Limburg province, where Tongeren is located, compared to a year earlier, authorities in the province said.
The service, Card Stop, which is a valid way to block stolen cards, has been repeatedly warning citizens that its employees don’t ask PIN codes or home visits. Although campaigns to raise awareness have been occurring, fraudsters find new ways to get funds, including at that time when they used portable card readers — the same way in this case. In the event of an incident, victims are advised by the Belgian Banking Association to report it as soon as possible because quick intervention sometimes leads to the recovery of stolen money.
