Four people have been arrested in connection with the discovery of a call centre where criminal gangs could make phone calls in an effort to con people out of money and other valuables.

The raid on the property in Mijdrecht, in Utrecht province, took place on July 12 but has only just been made public. The police also seized laptops, phones and a gun.

Police found two studios in the space plus scripts that the conmen could use while making their calls. The four men arrested all come from the same area and were aged 19, 22, 25 and 27.

Police suspect the gang has conned at least 45 people but declined to say how much money is involved.

Nor did they say whether the gang was posing as police officers or were using some other form of scam.

So far this year police have received over 3,400 reports of people posing as police officers to get their victims to hand over money, jewelry and other valuables. In 2023, there were 500 such reports as a whole.

They have also arrested 167 people in connection with similar cons.