Eight young men have been convicted of bank fraud by a court in Kortrijk after they targeted elderly and vulnerable individuals.
Posing as bank employees, the men managed to obtain the bank cards of their victims, with a total of €204,386 was stolen.
The investigation began after an elderly woman from Kortrijk reported an internet scam to the police on 5 July 2022. She received a call from an unknown Dutch phone number, and the caller claimed to be a bank employee who said her bank card had been misused. He promised to send someone to collect her card.
Later, the woman noticed that money had been withdrawn from her accounts and purchases were made at Mediamarkt.
The group includes Dutch and Belgian nationals. They persuaded elderly people, often with physical or mental vulnerabilities, that there was a problem with their bank cards.
Through this deception, they obtained the cards and PINs. The perpetrators then withdrew large sums of money or made online purchases. The first defendant received a suspended sentenced to 30 months in prison. Police found several payments on his accounts linked to the crimes.
The others received suspended sentences ranging from 12 months to 2 years for their roles in the fraud. Two men were sentenced to community service of 150 and 70 hours, respectively.
In his judgement, the judge considered the severity of the offences but also the young age and relatively clean criminal records of the defendants.
