A 22-year-old man from Vleuten, the Netherlands, has been sentenced to 30 months in prison and a €1,600 fine for fraud and computer-related crime after attempting to collect cash from a 79-year-old widow in Leopoldsburg, Limburg Province.
The man was arrested by Kempenland police on 13 November 2025 at the widow’s home. Due to his young age and previously clean record, the court suspended his prison sentence, apart from the time already served in pre-trial detention.
The incident began on 12 November 2025, when the widow received a call around 9:00 p.m. from someone pretending to be a police officer. She was told there had been a burglary in her apartment building and was asked to prepare her valuables to hand over to a police officer for safekeeping.
A woman arrived at the victim’s address at around 1:30 a.m. The widow handed over envelopes containing her mobile phone, iPad, jewellery with sentimental value, and other items.
The caller also requested the victim’s bank code, claiming there were suspicious money transactions transfers from her account to Düsseldorf, Germany. By giving the code, the woman was led to believe she was stopping fraudulent transfers. She was instructed not to hang up her landline, which prevented her from alerting anyone.
The following morning, at 7:00 a.m., the widow had shared her ordeal with her granddaughter. Alarmed, the granddaughter and her husband —a police officer—acted quickly to block the widow’s bank card.
Despite their actions, money from her account had already been stolen.
The fraudsters continued their scam, calling back to arrange the collection of cash. The convicted man then showed up to collect themoney, pretending to be an investigator from Antwerp’s police force. Prosecutors described him as a “collector” within the criminal organisation.
“The defendant shamelessly exploited a vulnerable individual,” the court ruled, noting he was already doing community service in the Netherlands for various crimes, involving stolen bank cards.
The widow has been awarded €3,520 in damages.
