Avoid scams
Are you as a student victim of (online) fraud via WhatsApp, email, telephone, SMS or in another way? Please contact the Fraud Helpdesk. You can make a report using the Fraud Helpdesk online form (only available in Dutch), but if you need immediate assistance we recommend calling Fraud Helpdesk: +31 88-7867372.
What if I don’t speak Dutch?
If you are an English speaking victim, please use the telephone number of Fraud Helpdesk (the website and online form are only available in Dutch).
What should I do if I'm scammed?
Are you experiencing financial difficulties as a result of the fraud? Contact the student counsellor or the study advisor.
In the event of an attempt to defraud your student email, please forward the email concerned to abuse@tudelft.nl. Do not respond to the scammer’s request.
You can report an attempt at fraud to the Fraud Helpdesk using the online form, thereby helping them to find trends. This applies not only to mails, but also to attempts via telephone calls, WhatsApp, SMS scams or websites.
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- As an employee(s) from TU Delft
- As a government agency (Police, Immigration & Naturalisation Service, Tax Office, Foreign Affairs etc.)
- As companies such as banks or insurers
- As members of drug cartels or corrupt law enforcement agencies
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- By phone (where they sometimes manage to use a recognised telephone number)
- Via email (whereby they can use spoofed e-mails making it look like the e-mails are coming from a valid and official account. Press ‘reply’ for you to see who you are really corresponding with).
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- Personal data
- For you to click on a link (after which they take over the PC/phone)
- For you to transfer money, iTunes cards, Play Store cards or crypto coins
- For you to set up a virtual kidnapping; the scammers force you to go into virtual hiding and temporarily cut off all communication with relatives and acquaintances. this so that the scammers can send photos to family members to extort money via wire transfer.
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- It is necessary for your residence in the Netherlands (international students)
- Your supervisor needs it in the short term
- Your family is in danger and you need to help them (mostly applies to international students)
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- Always check the source of the message. Never rely on a single email or phone call, but actively request information from the bank or government via an official channel. Checking a telephone number or e-mail address is not enough.
- Never post news of upcoming travel dates and -locations online.
- Discuss the possibility of a virtual kidnapping with family members prior to any travel.
- Have a “password” that family members can ask for in an emergency to confirm that a loved one is really in trouble.
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- Contact Fraud Helpdesk using the online form or call: +31 88-7867372.
- Contact the student counsellor and/or the study advisor.
- In the event of an attempt to defraud your student email, please forward the e-mail to abuse@tudelft.nl. Do not respond to the scammer’s request.
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- Refer the victim to the Fraud Helpdesk and when needed, offer psychological help via a TU Delft psychologist.
- Refer the victim to the police to file a police report. Possibly via the Safety and Security department (Integrale Veiligheid) of the TU Delft, who can assist the process.
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- Damage(s) between 4.000 and 19.000 euro
- 11 of the 12 victims had a non-Dutch nationality.
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- Someone calls you or you’re getting called and hear a tape to which you have to respond (bot construction).
- This is usually an English-speaking person posing as a police officer or a government employee.
- The person who is called is put under verbal pressure and is being accused of money laundering and/or the exchange of counterfeit money.
- They frighten you by threatening to become a potential victim of criminals.
- The victim is then instructed to install ‘Anydesk’ or another app. Anydesk is an application that allows the criminals to take over the computer of the victim.
- The victim transfers money to a (crypto) third-party account (like Coinbase, where it will be converted to crypto) out of fear.
Read example: article TU Delta (29th of March 2022) TU Delft students scammed out of thousands of euros