People in the neighborhood already call him ‘the hero of Rucphen’. The 69-year-old Co lured scammers into a trap on Wednesday, who were after his bank cards. While he was on the phone with the fake bank employees, he quickly called the police with another line. When the criminals called Co, they were handcuffed by officers. “This is not healthy for an old person,” he says a day later.
Co was watching cycling on television on his couch on Wednesday afternoon when his landline phone rang. He had a polite man on the line who introduced himself as an employee of his bank. He said he was an ICT security guard, which enabled him to prevent criminals from withdrawing a large amount of money from Co’s account. The man asked Co if he had his Rabobank cards to hand. “No, I have to get it in the kitchen”, said Co.
But as he walked towards it, he got a bad gut feeling. “I didn’t trust the case, took my mobile phone and called the police. Quietly I explained everything very quickly.” Co continued to call the police and put his landline phone on speaker. The police secretly listened in.
“I still think: How can such a man do that?”
“We always watch programs such as Opsporing Requested and Kassa. Every time you see criminals extort money from older people,” says Co. “That’s why I didn’t trust it. I thought: ‘Now it’s my turn’.”
The police gave Co instructions. He had to keep the so-called bank employee on the line as long as possible. “The man asked me to put the bank cards in an envelope. Then I would receive a security code and someone would come by to collect the cards.” Very cleverly, Co put fake bank cards in an envelope, which his grandchildren use to play with.
Shortly after five o’clock someone actually rang the doorbell at Co. “He was a handsome, neatly dressed and well-spoken boy of about 18 years old. I couldn’t understand it. I still think: ‘How can such a little guy do that?’ If I had a daughter who wanted to date it, I would have welcomed him with open arms. The type of ideal son-in-law,” says Co.
“I have slept badly and have lost my appetite.”
The young man asked Co if he had jewels and black money in his house. He would then store it for a while in a safe in Etten-Leur, where it was safe for the tax authorities. In the end, the man walked away alone with the envelope.
What the scammer didn’t know was that the police had cordoned off the entire neighborhood in the meantime. Co saw how the man was pushed to the ground with his hands up. A little further on, two accomplices were in a car, who were also arrested. According to Co, more bank cards were hidden in a litter box in their car.
A day later, Co still has to recover from the exciting adventure. “I slept badly and have lost my appetite. This morning I got out of bed and felt like I had a pint of beer last night.”
He thinks it’s an exaggeration that people in the neighborhood now call him ‘the hero of Rucphen’. “I think it’s good what I’ve done. But this is not healthy for an old person,” says Co with a laugh.
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