Herent-Kortenberg (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – In Herent-Kortenberg, 31 phone scams cost victims nearly €300,000. Most victims were seniors. Police, including spokesperson Leen Symons, urge caution and share a brochure to raise awareness.
As VRT News reported, this year, the police in Herent-Kortenberg, neighbouring municipalities in the province of Flemish Brabant, Belgium, grouped for services like police zone, have received 31 reports of phone scams. People have lost almost 300,000 euros.
The scammers pretend to be from banks, Card Stop, or even the police. They try to scare people by saying their bank card is in danger or that thieves are after them. Then, they ask for important information like card numbers and PINs. Sometimes, they offer to send someone to help, but they steal the victim’s bank card.
What makes seniors the main targets in Herent-Kortenberg scams?
According to officials, older people are often the main targets of these scams. In Herent-Kortenberg, 25 out of 31 victims were over 60, and 10 were over 80. The scammers take advantage of this by first gaining their trust before gradually extracting personal and financial information. The police are urging residents to be on high alert, particularly when receiving unexpected calls about banking or security matters.
People should never give out their PIN codes or banking information over the phone, and they should hang up right away if something seems off. They said that family members should also talk to older relatives about these scams to help stop more of them from happening.
The police in Herent-Kortenberg are very concerned because phone scams are increasing. The police are especially worried about scammers pretending to be police officers. According to police spokesperson Leen Symons, these types of scams seem to be happening more often now.
He mentioned that scammers have changed their tactics and are now pretending to be police officers instead of bank employees. This makes it easier for them to trick people. Just last week, 2 new cases were reported. In one case, a person lost €5,000, and in the other, someone lost a much larger sum of €15,000.
To help stop these scams, the Herent-Kortenberg police are taking action. They want to make people more aware, especially older people who are at higher risk. The police have made a digital brochure to teach people how to spot phone scams.
This brochure explains how scammers trick people and what to do if people think they’ve been targeted. The police believe that if people know about the scams, it will help prevent them. The police hope that by sharing this information, they can reduce the number of people who are tricked by these scams.
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