This is the story of Albert and his husband Joep. But it's also the story of his sister-in-law Nienke and her husband Jeroen, Albert's brother. Unbeknownst to them, the foursome became part of a dramatic thriller. The instigator was the fifth main character: a scammer who presented himself as ‘Vincent from ING’.
Nienke: 'We were called in the afternoon by Joep, Albert's husband. Albert was on the phone with a certain Vincent, who allegedly worked for ING's fraud department. Joep heard how that conversation went. He didn't trust it, but he couldn't get Albert to hang up.'
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"You need to act now"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"According to this Vincent, criminals had tried to transfer 1.600 euros from Albert's account to a foreign account. Albert immediately opened the ING banking app. He couldn't find any transaction details. Of course not, the ‘employee’ replied: ING had been able to stop it – but just barely. And he immediately upped the pressure, "But we need to act now to avoid worse."
Albert: 'He was so persuasive, I really thought someone was trying to take money out of my account. He also knew personal things about me, like my date of birth.' The scammer may have found that information on social media. Many people aren't aware that they're sharing personal data for anyone to view. But criminals are often more than happy to use data breaches too. This way, without you knowing it, all kinds of information about you may be known to scammers. So someone who seems to know a lot about you doesn't necessarily have your best interests in mind.
Albert's husband Joep became increasingly suspicious, he says. 'I heard Albert had to go to this website to download and install software. I thought that was suspicious. I've read before that the bank would never ask for such a thing. I couldn't get through to Albert. I told him a few times: you don't know that person – don't do it!'
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Under pressure"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"Now, Albert says he felt pressured. 'They get you riled up by claiming someone is trying to take money out of your account. You're immediately scared and willing to come up with a solution with them. Because imagine not acting and it goes wrong anyway...'
By the time Joep called his brother- and sister-in-law for help, Albert was already typing the URL of a website where he had to download a certain program. This would let the scammer look inside Albert's computer. It's also how he would be able to learn his password for My ING. Fortunately, things didn't get that far.
Nienke: 'I've been working at ING for years. Joep was hoping I could help. He put his phone on speaker so the scammer could hear me. When he realised that I worked at ING, he became very irate: "What branch do you work at? And what's your personnel number? You don't even work at ING, do you?" And I immediately knew that's not how a colleague would react. The scammer was also trying to get Albert to hang up on me. He sounded very forceful. "Hang up!"
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Desperation"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"Nienke and Jeroen felt a kind of desperation coming over them. Jeroen: 'At this point, I was screaming at my brother through the phone: "Albert, hang up now!" And to his husband Joep we shouted: "Rip that phone out of his hands!"
At that point, the scammer hung up. He probably smelled trouble. "I advised Albert and Joep to call ING's special emergency number right away," says Nienke. 'The employee was able to calm us down – he asked if Albert had shared any personal information, like his bank account number. Fortunately, he didn't. Nothing bad happened, but we really had to take a few deep breaths and calm down.'
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"How do you recognise a scammer?"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"Lucky for Albert, his story has a happy ending. Do you know how to recognise scammers? Albert reacted very understandably. Scammers put pressure on you: they introduce themselves as employees of the bank's fraud department. They supposedly saw something suspicious happen with your account. That's why you need to act now, or you'll lose your money. They often try to gain your trust because they know your personal details. Like Albert's date of birth. This is information that they can find on social media or get their hands on after a data breach.
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Red flags to remember"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"Does a caller say anything in line with the above signs of alarm? Don't go along with it – it's a scammer.
Hang up and call ING
Unsure if you have ING or a scammer on the phone? Use Check the Call in the app to know right away. Can't open the app while you're on the phone? No problem: just hang up and call ING yourself to check if the story adds up. You can always call the ING Hotline on 020 22 888 00.
Want to know more about different types of fraud and scams? And what you can do about it? Find more information on this page.
(Names were changed at the involved parties’ request)
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