Police arrest man for buying products with online store accounts taken over

The Noord-Holland police have arrested a 25-year-old man from Den Bosch who is suspected of having ordered products from an online store in the name of others. He would have done this by logging into the accounts of those people.

The police write that it is still being investigated how the man gained access to the accounts. The leader of the Noord-Holland cybercrime team, Fred Ootes, states that the police are increasingly confronted with this form of crime and that it appears that people reuse their passwords at various online services. Although the police themselves do not say so, it is possible that the man was using databases of credentials that were previously leaked. After logging into the accounts, the man is said to have ordered expensive products, such as smartphones and TVs.

He had these delivered to various collection points, where ‘accomplices’ collected the packages. A second suspect is also in the picture, police said. The products were then resold to second-hand shops. According to the police, people who buy that kind of stuff are guilty of fencing. In addition, collection points should check better, for example on the basis of proof of identity.

The man is suspected of fraud and computer intrusion. About forty victims are said to have reported themselves, who have suffered an average of 1000 euros in damage. Police expect the number of victims to continue to rise.