The Northern Times
  • News
    • All
    • Crime
    • Economics
    • Education
    • Health
    • Politics
    • Sports
    • Tech
    • Ukraine
    A bus at a bus station.

    New round of regional transport strike in the North

    The outside of a building by night.

    Pro-Russian hackers claim cyberattack on UMCG

    A woman.

    Groninger photographer Courtney Bonneau launches new exhibition in Lebanon

    The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

    The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

    Philips Drachten

    Philips to fire 6,000 staff to cut costs

    First flight from Eelde to Munich

    Eelde Airport secures two new summer routes

    A hydrogen bus.

    Lobbying for the North: Building a Hydrogen Valley

    An American Groninger in Madurodam

    Groningers have the best sense of humor in the Netherlands, study claims

    A band playing at a live concert

    Sold-out Eurosonic Noorderslag brings the best in European music to Northern Netherlands

    Trending Tags

    • Lifestyle
      • All
      • Food & Drinks
      • Nightlife
      • Shopping
      • What's happening
      Groningen welcomes Qatar 2022 with cheer and criticism

      Groningen welcomes Qatar 2022 with cheer and criticism

      The anti Zwarte Piet protest in Emmen

      Emmen: Four people still detained after anti Zwarte Piet protest

      The inside of Forum Groningen

      “Let’s Gro” opens a discussion on the future of Groningen

      What about food in student city Groningen?

      Where to get knockout fries in the northern provinces

      Ukraine Food opens in Groningen

      Ukraine Food opens in Groningen

      Buses will no longer travel through the Grote Markt in Groningen

      Buses will no longer travel through the Grote Markt in Groningen

      “Tall Ships” Race coming to Friesland this week

      “Tall Ships” Race coming to Friesland this week

      Noorderzon festival returning to Groningen in August

      Noorderzon festival returning to Groningen in August

      Plans for extensive Kardinge residential expansion revealed

      Plans for extensive Kardinge residential expansion revealed

      Trending Tags

      • Culture
        • All
        • Dutch history
        • Typical Dutch
        A woman.

        Groninger photographer Courtney Bonneau launches new exhibition in Lebanon

        Eurosonic Noorderslag

        Eurosonic Noorderslag

        Ending the Year with a Bang!

        Ending the Year with a Bang!

        It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

        It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

        A devastating defeat; an unexpected victory

        A devastating defeat; an unexpected victory

        Sinterklaas is Here!

        Sinterklaas is Here!

        A moment from NFF 2021

        Noordelijk Film Festival 2022 has started

        “Tall Ships” Race coming to Friesland this week

        “Tall Ships” Race coming to Friesland this week

        Noorderzon festival returning to Groningen in August

        Noorderzon festival returning to Groningen in August

        Trending Tags

        • People
          • All
          • Expats
          • International students
          The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

          The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

          Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

          Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

          It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

          It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

          People protesting on a street in Groningen.

          Former Sugar Homes residents protest for return of withheld deposit

          I’m not Black; I’m African

          I’m not Black; I’m African

          A letter from the Editor – Internationals from 120 countries: Welcome to Groningen, Leeuwarden, Assen and Emmen!

          MPs call for cap on foreign student numbers in order to ensure ‘accessibility’

          Watch: I’m 100% positive about my Groningen internship – Hanze international student

          Watch: I’m 100% positive about my Groningen internship – Hanze international student

          Common cold becoming too common

          Watch: We’re hiring internationals to help us with foreign clients – ACS Buildings CEO

          Watch: We’re hiring internationals to help us with foreign clients – ACS Buildings CEO

          Trending Tags

          • Opportunities
            • All
            • business
            • Education
            The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

            The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

            Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

            Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

            Watch: We’re hiring internationals to help us with foreign clients – ACS Buildings CEO

            Watch: We’re hiring internationals to help us with foreign clients – ACS Buildings CEO

            Small but mighty: TECNED is looking for internationals to help it grow

            Small but mighty: TECNED is looking for internationals to help it grow

            Talk on International Growth by local founders to take place on the 21st of June

            Talk on International Growth by local founders to take place on the 21st of June

            Groningen to host its first sustainable business day

            Groningen to host its first sustainable business day

            Companies in Dutch energy sector seek next cohort of young leaders

            Companies in Dutch energy sector seek next cohort of young leaders

            Annual Beta Business Days event a success

            Annual Beta Business Days event a success

            What’s it like working in Northern Netherlands?

            Startup Visa Crew offers support to Ukrainian entrepreneurs (Переклад українською)

            Trending Tags

            • Submit A Tip/Article
            No Result
            View All Result
            • News
              • All
              • Crime
              • Economics
              • Education
              • Health
              • Politics
              • Sports
              • Tech
              • Ukraine
              A bus at a bus station.

              New round of regional transport strike in the North

              The outside of a building by night.

              Pro-Russian hackers claim cyberattack on UMCG

              A woman.

              Groninger photographer Courtney Bonneau launches new exhibition in Lebanon

              The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

              The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

              Philips Drachten

              Philips to fire 6,000 staff to cut costs

              First flight from Eelde to Munich

              Eelde Airport secures two new summer routes

              A hydrogen bus.

              Lobbying for the North: Building a Hydrogen Valley

              An American Groninger in Madurodam

              Groningers have the best sense of humor in the Netherlands, study claims

              A band playing at a live concert

              Sold-out Eurosonic Noorderslag brings the best in European music to Northern Netherlands

              Trending Tags

              • Lifestyle
                • All
                • Food & Drinks
                • Nightlife
                • Shopping
                • What's happening
                Groningen welcomes Qatar 2022 with cheer and criticism

                Groningen welcomes Qatar 2022 with cheer and criticism

                The anti Zwarte Piet protest in Emmen

                Emmen: Four people still detained after anti Zwarte Piet protest

                The inside of Forum Groningen

                “Let’s Gro” opens a discussion on the future of Groningen

                What about food in student city Groningen?

                Where to get knockout fries in the northern provinces

                Ukraine Food opens in Groningen

                Ukraine Food opens in Groningen

                Buses will no longer travel through the Grote Markt in Groningen

                Buses will no longer travel through the Grote Markt in Groningen

                “Tall Ships” Race coming to Friesland this week

                “Tall Ships” Race coming to Friesland this week

                Noorderzon festival returning to Groningen in August

                Noorderzon festival returning to Groningen in August

                Plans for extensive Kardinge residential expansion revealed

                Plans for extensive Kardinge residential expansion revealed

                Trending Tags

                • Culture
                  • All
                  • Dutch history
                  • Typical Dutch
                  A woman.

                  Groninger photographer Courtney Bonneau launches new exhibition in Lebanon

                  Eurosonic Noorderslag

                  Eurosonic Noorderslag

                  Ending the Year with a Bang!

                  Ending the Year with a Bang!

                  It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

                  It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

                  A devastating defeat; an unexpected victory

                  A devastating defeat; an unexpected victory

                  Sinterklaas is Here!

                  Sinterklaas is Here!

                  A moment from NFF 2021

                  Noordelijk Film Festival 2022 has started

                  “Tall Ships” Race coming to Friesland this week

                  “Tall Ships” Race coming to Friesland this week

                  Noorderzon festival returning to Groningen in August

                  Noorderzon festival returning to Groningen in August

                  Trending Tags

                  • People
                    • All
                    • Expats
                    • International students
                    The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

                    The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

                    Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

                    Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

                    It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

                    It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

                    People protesting on a street in Groningen.

                    Former Sugar Homes residents protest for return of withheld deposit

                    I’m not Black; I’m African

                    I’m not Black; I’m African

                    A letter from the Editor – Internationals from 120 countries: Welcome to Groningen, Leeuwarden, Assen and Emmen!

                    MPs call for cap on foreign student numbers in order to ensure ‘accessibility’

                    Watch: I’m 100% positive about my Groningen internship – Hanze international student

                    Watch: I’m 100% positive about my Groningen internship – Hanze international student

                    Common cold becoming too common

                    Watch: We’re hiring internationals to help us with foreign clients – ACS Buildings CEO

                    Watch: We’re hiring internationals to help us with foreign clients – ACS Buildings CEO

                    Trending Tags

                    • Opportunities
                      • All
                      • business
                      • Education
                      The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

                      The cold of the North is compensated by the warmth of its people – Ocean Grazer engineer

                      Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

                      Watch: A workplace that sells itself – CTO on working at Ocean Grazer

                      Watch: We’re hiring internationals to help us with foreign clients – ACS Buildings CEO

                      Watch: We’re hiring internationals to help us with foreign clients – ACS Buildings CEO

                      Small but mighty: TECNED is looking for internationals to help it grow

                      Small but mighty: TECNED is looking for internationals to help it grow

                      Talk on International Growth by local founders to take place on the 21st of June

                      Talk on International Growth by local founders to take place on the 21st of June

                      Groningen to host its first sustainable business day

                      Groningen to host its first sustainable business day

                      Companies in Dutch energy sector seek next cohort of young leaders

                      Companies in Dutch energy sector seek next cohort of young leaders

                      Annual Beta Business Days event a success

                      Annual Beta Business Days event a success

                      What’s it like working in Northern Netherlands?

                      Startup Visa Crew offers support to Ukrainian entrepreneurs (Переклад українською)

                      Trending Tags

                      • Submit A Tip/Article
                      No Result
                      View All Result
                      The Northern Times
                      No Result
                      View All Result
                      Home News

                      Post doc blackmailed by fake Ministry of Foreign Affairs phone call

                      Traci White by Traci White
                      December 7, 2018
                      in News
                      0
                      ministry_of_foreign_affairs
                      0
                      SHARES
                      3.2k
                      VIEWS
                      Share on TwitterShare on FacebookWhatsapp

                      Another international researcher has been targeted by a scam perpetrated by someone posing as an employee of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The postdoc was threatened with deportation if he did not pay thousands of euros.

                      Manas Das, a postdoc from India working at the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Groningen, is still shaken by his experience over the past few days. “I took out all my money because I thought it was a threat to my family. I’m living here with a small kid and my wife”, he says. The money, in the form of Steam gift cards, was given to someone claiming to be from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs who told Das there was a warrant out for his arrest and that he had to pay thousands of euros to avoid being deported.

                      Das checked the phone number displayed on his cell phone calling him on Wednesday morning and confirmed that it matched the one on the ministry’s website. The caller told him to take the phone call somewhere no one else could hear them, and to turn off his wifi. The scammer, whom Das says sounded like a fluent English speaker, had good Dutch pronunciation skills: when he provided his street address, the caller said it back to him in perfect-sounding Dutch.

                      Deportation

                      The credibility of the phone number and the caller led Das to believe what he was being told, namely that he and his family faced being deported within 24 hours because his alien registration number had been filed incorrectly. Das told the caller that the Immigration Service Desk at the university had prepared all of his paperwork and that he had never heard of the alien registration number, but the caller said “that’s your problem.”

                      After being told to bike home, Das provided the caller with every form of legal ID he had, reportedly for a background check by the Dutch embassy in India. The caller told Das he had three options: he, his wife and child either had to leave country within 24 hours and receive a red mark in their passports banning them from returning to the Netherlands; be sent to a detention centre in Amsterdam for six days until his background check came back clean; or pay 2,900 euros in a security deposit and court fee. The fees were to be paid in gift cards for Steam, an online gaming platform. Das scrambled around town until he found the cards and then scratched them off one by one, reading out the numbers on the back to the scammer until he had 2,900 euros’ worth of cards.

                      Identical

                      This modus operandi is identical to another scam which targeted another Indian researcher in Groningen earlier this year. The man, who asked to remain anonymous, received a call on his work phone from someone claiming to be from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The caller stated that the man’s alien registration was invalid and presented him with three options: deportation, being detained for 15 days, or paying a 1,600 euro fine in iTunes gift cards.

                      Das has an appointment with the Groningen police on Monday to file a formal complaint, and has been trying to reach the International Service Desk since Wednesday by telephone. The Northern Times has also reached out to the ISD for comment. In February, the ISD shared a warning on their Facebook page that anyone calling from the Ministry of Justice and Security asking for an alien registration number was a scam.

                      Jorien Bakker, a spokesperson for the University of Groningen, says, ”it’s really terrible that this has happened. We don’t want any of our employees to be put through something like this.” Bakker says it is a good thing that Das is going to the police, and the more details that are made available, the easier it will be for the university to issue another warning to staff about how to recognise these kinds of scams. “I don’t know if it’s something that we can prevent, but we’ll do what we can to provide more information to our employees.”

                      “I don’t want anyone else to be in my situation”

                      The strain of being blackmailed has left Das unable to concentrate on his work at the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, much less eat or sleep. On Friday, Das went into the International Welcome Center North to tell them about what had happened to him, at his wife’s urging. “My mental state was very bad, and she said, ‘this is just money. At least we’re all alive, so forget about this. This is just a bad thing.’ She said we should inform everyone, all the authorities, and maybe they can help us get something back. I want people to know about these things because I don’t want anyone else to be in my situation.”

                      A similar scam involving phone numbers mirroring legitimate Dutch government agencies and demanding proof of alien registration has been reported by foreign professionals, a number of whom are from India, across the Netherlands over the past year. DutchNews.nl reports that comparable scams have also been active in Dubai, Singapore and Canada.

                       

                       

                       

                      Tags: alien registrationblackmailIndianMinistry of Foreign Affairsscamsteam
                      Previous Post

                      Chihuly: Spectacle of glass, light and colour in Groninger Museum

                      Next Post

                      Campaign against sexual assault among Frisian students

                      Next Post
                      CSG

                      Campaign against sexual assault among Frisian students

                      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

                      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

                      The Northern Times

                      NorthernTimes.nl is an English-language news site for internationals and anyone interested in news and activities in the three northern Dutch provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe. The website provides daily coverage and summaries of local news in the north, as well as human interest stories, backgrounds and a regional events calendar. The Northern Times is an initiative of the International Welcome Center North in cooperation with Persbureau Tammeling BV, which owns and operates the website.

                      Powered by:

                      Akkoord van Groningen, Gemeente Groningen, Koninklijke Metaalunie & FME, University of Groningen, Hanzehogeschool Groningen, Samenwerking Noord, Campus Groningen, and DUO/NEC NL (Nationaal Europass Centrum Nederland). 

                      Privacy statement and disclaimer 

                      NorthernTimes.nl is an English-language news site for internationals and anyone interested in news and activities in the three northern Dutch provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe. The website provides daily coverage and summaries of local news in the north, as well as human interest stories, backgrounds and a regional events calendar. The Northern Times is an initiative of the International Welcome Center North in cooperation with Persbureau Tammeling BV, which owns and operates the website.

                      Newsletter

                      Once or twice a week, we send out a digital newsletter to our subscribers. We will not and cannot share email addresses or any other personal data provided by our subscribers with any third parties, nor will we use this information for any purposes other than providing the newsletter. 

                      Questions or comments?

                      If you have any questions concerning your privacy or comments about ways that you think we could further protect and inform you about your privacy, please let us know by contacting us at info@tammeling.nl

                      Disclaimer

                      The Northern Times reserves the right to change its privacy policy, but will inform our subscribers and readers in advance prior to implementing any such changes. These changes will be published in a timely manner on The Northern Times’ website.

                      Tags

                      Arriva (56) Art (62) Assen (184) Climate Change (51) Coronavirus (501) coronavirus regulations (49) COVID-19 (334) COVID 19 (59) culture (46) Drachten (48) Drenthe (886) earthquakes (56) Eelde (45) Emmen (159) festival (47) football (62) Friesland (958) Groningen (1920) Groningen Airport Eelde (53) Groninger Museum (50) Grote Markt (46) Hanzehogeschool (53) Heerenveen (41) Hoogeveen (49) housing (113) international students (59) jobs (65) Leeuwarden (413) Make it in the North (60) Mark Rutte (44) music (43) natural gas (58) Netherlands (71) NHL Stenden (52) NS (47) police (67) protest (58) RUG (151) Sneek (43) students (94) train (65) UMCG (111) University of Groningen (202) Wadden Sea (43) what's on (67)
                      • News
                      • Lifestyle
                      • Culture
                      • People
                      • Opportunities
                      • Submit A Tip/Article

                      © 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

                      No Result
                      View All Result
                      • Culture
                        • Dutch history
                        • Typical Dutch
                      • Lifestyle
                        • Food & Drinks
                        • Nightlife
                        • Shopping
                        • What’s happening
                      • News
                        • Economics
                        • Politics
                        • Sports
                        • Tech
                      • People
                        • Expats
                        • International students
                      • Opportunities
                        • business
                        • Education
                      • Bloom: Subscribe

                      © 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

                      Welcome Back!

                      Login to your account below

                      Forgotten Password?

                      Retrieve your password

                      Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

                      Log In

                      Add New Playlist

                      Submit a article

                      Send in an article to be published on The Northern Times.

                      Send a news tip

                      Got a story idea or want us to be aware of anything?