Amsterdam police arrested four Romanians Friday morning, suspected of swindling tourists, following a complaint filed by a victim, Mediafax reported .
The suspects were acting based on a well written script. One would approach tourists and behave suspiciously. Two other suspects would come and chased the first, presenting themselves as police officers and pretending to take victim statements about the suspect. Then they would say they wanted to "check" if everything was okay with the victim’s money and passport, which was when thy would steal the money.
A number of tourists have fallen victim to this scam. The a mounts stolen add up to several thousand euros.
A police officer located the four men on Friday morning, after one of them asked a tourist for his passport. He did not trust the suspect and left inventing an excuse.
Subsequently, the officer pursued the suspect. He led him to the other three, who were in a car parked on Tasmanstraat.
The four suspects, aged 45, 43, 42 and 35, were arrested. All four are Romanian citizens and the police found a fake police badge on one of them, according to the site.