spoofing/identity frauds targeted at expats/immigr (Amsterdam)

Dear all,

On 25 jan Protected content Dutch newspaper “Trouw” published at page 9 a somewhat alarming article for expats/foreigners living in the Netherlands. The article concerned a sharp increase of “spoofing”/identity frauds whereby the scammers abuse the identity of employees of the Ministry of Justice and/or the IND (The Dutch immigration bureau). Because the article is in Dutch, I felt that I should share a summary as a warning.

The essence of the article is that, apparently, scammers call expats eo with the message that something is wrong with your immigration status or forms. They thread these people to be forced to leave the country and/or prisoned until the issue has been resolved. And of course, in order to avoid these measures, people are asked to wire a certain amount as warranty which they promise to repay once the matter has been investigated. It all sounds to easy, but the phone number which will show up in your phone is the exact same phone number of the IND (Dutch immigration buro) or from the ministry of justice and security. These scammers will even guide you to ministries’ websites so that you can compare these numbers all with the purpose to convince you the call is genuine.

Apparently the scam is so convincing that already quite a few people have already made these payments. About Protected content have apparently been filed with the police, but that number is expected to represent the tip of the ice berg.

What to do: normally the ministries will not call you, but will send you letters. If you have doubts, ask for their names, hang up and call the respective ministry via their normal number and explain what happened and that you want to verify if it is a scan or not. You may also contact someone you trust more, for example your lawyer.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

Jens Langendorff
Int tax lawyer/ Protected content