Dutch police arrested two men who drained more than €380,000 from 170 bank customers using AI-generated robocalls. The recordings warned of suspicious account activity, then a live “bank employee” took over and talked victims into installing an app and holding their debit card to the phone. The app captured the card’s NFC data and relayed it to an accomplice waiting at an ATM.
Rohan Gupta, CEO & Co-founder, Diopter Had This To Say:
“Based on the reporting, this was a familiar social engineering playbook with AI running the first step. An AI-generated recording warned people about suspicious activity on their bank account and asked them to press 1 if it wasn’t them, establishing authority and urgency. A live caller posing as a bank employee then took over, said the card had been blocked, and had them download an app and hold the card to their phone. An AI voice was the thing that allowed a two-person crew to run that first step at scale, and it looks like it cost 170 people more than €380,000. Businesses should expect the same approach on their own phone lines, from callers who sound just like their bank or one of their vendors. Any request to install software, move money, or share a login is a red flag even if the caller sounds like someone you know. Your bank should never ask you to tap your card to your phone during a call. If that happens, best practice is to hang up and call the number on the back of your card.”
Social engineering has got a new life thanks to AI. Thus people need to be educated about this new but old threat that is out there.
AI robocalls + NFC relay drained €380K in Dutch bank scam
Posted in Commentary with tags The Netherlands on October 26, 2026 by itnerdDutch police arrested two men who drained more than €380,000 from 170 bank customers using AI-generated robocalls. The recordings warned of suspicious account activity, then a live “bank employee” took over and talked victims into installing an app and holding their debit card to the phone. The app captured the card’s NFC data and relayed it to an accomplice waiting at an ATM.
Rohan Gupta, CEO & Co-founder, Diopter Had This To Say:
“Based on the reporting, this was a familiar social engineering playbook with AI running the first step. An AI-generated recording warned people about suspicious activity on their bank account and asked them to press 1 if it wasn’t them, establishing authority and urgency. A live caller posing as a bank employee then took over, said the card had been blocked, and had them download an app and hold the card to their phone. An AI voice was the thing that allowed a two-person crew to run that first step at scale, and it looks like it cost 170 people more than €380,000. Businesses should expect the same approach on their own phone lines, from callers who sound just like their bank or one of their vendors. Any request to install software, move money, or share a login is a red flag even if the caller sounds like someone you know. Your bank should never ask you to tap your card to your phone during a call. If that happens, best practice is to hang up and call the number on the back of your card.”
Social engineering has got a new life thanks to AI. Thus people need to be educated about this new but old threat that is out there.
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