The man rang the doorbell at the woman’s home on the Kalslagerring last night and introduced himself as a plainclothes officer, a police spokesperson said. With a clever chat trick he managed to get the woman to hand over her jewelry to him.
The chat trick was reported to the police around 9:50 p.m. The police do not want to share who made that report, but a clear description is being given. Shortly afterwards, the police arrest a suspect. Some of the stolen jewelry is found on the young man.
The police also do not want to share the exact location of the arrest, but do say that it concerns ‘an apartment complex nearby’. Later that evening, a police sniffer dog recovered more of the woman’s jewelry. The suspect is still in custody and is being interrogated.
More fake agents active
In October last year, the central Netherlands police received no fewer than ten reports of chatter tricks by fake officers in one day. Eight chat tricks failed, but two women (105 and 86) were robbedthe police told Bureau NH in November.
In the same program, the police gave tips on what to do if you suspect you are dealing with a fake police officer. They often first approach victims by telephone, but it is not known whether this also happened in Nieuw-Vennep.
Threatening story
Then they tell a ‘threatening story’, police spokesman Joey Brink said at the time. “For example, about an increase in the number of burglaries in the neighborhood.” The scammers then send someone – regularly in uniform – to collect jewelry, money and other valuables, and supposedly store them safely.
In the episode of Bureau NH below, see how you can recognize a real police uniform and how you can distinguish a real from a fake police pass.