Politie reports:
On Tuesday 10 September, a 19-year-old man from Amersfoort was arrested on suspicion of phishing. The suspect had already been convicted three times for committing similar acts.
1 cent fraud
Earlier this year, the police received a report from a bank. This bank found that several customers had fallen victim to phishing in the form of ‘1 cent fraud’. It appears that the suspect, as a potential buyer of a product, enticed sellers on a second-hand goods trading site to click on a link for a so-called check with a transaction of €0.01. In reality, by clicking on the link, the seller was directed to a phishing site where the victim left his or her details. This gave the suspect access to the bank details and accounts of the victims. In this way, the suspect is said to have tried to withdraw almost 100,000 euros from the accounts. Fortunately, the bank was able to stop most of the transactions.
Research
Using digital traces, the police tracked down a 19-year-old man from Amersfoort. On Tuesday 10 September, the suspect was arrested and his house searched. Several data carriers were seized. The suspect had already been convicted three times for committing similar acts. The police are continuing to investigate the case.
Don’t fall for it!
If you want to buy a product via an online marketplace, log in to your own banking app or your bank’s website and make the payment there. Inform the buyer that you are paying this way. Often the fraudster will then drop out and take no further action. If you receive payment requests from strangers, do not click on them. You can always check a link via the website Check Your Link: www.checkjelinkje.nl
So why was this person not in jail or prison already? Is he jailed and released? Under what terms? DataBreaches emailed the media office for Politie, but it seems the question had to be directed to the prosecutor’s office. It was then sent to the prosecutor’s office, but no reply has been received. DataBreaches will update this post if a reply is received.
h/t, Risky Biz News
Update of September 20. The prosecutor’s office replied today:
This suspect has been convicted four times previously for similar offences. He is not in jail because he has been tried as a minor so far. The sentences for underage suspects are considerably lower than for adults. Of course, the court ultimately decides the amount of the sentence.
If we prosecute this suspect again, we will take his criminal record into account in our sentence.