Netherlands, EURC Fraud Discovered..."Coin Used to Pay for Real Rolex Was Fake"

▲ HSBC, Stablecoin, Cryptocurrency Fraud/AI Generated Image

A fraud ring that purchased real Rolex watches with forged stablecoins has been caught by the police. This is a new type of crime that exploits fake tokens that are outwardly difficult to distinguish from legitimate virtual assets.

According to U.Today, a virtual asset specialized media outlet, on September 22 (local time), the East Netherlands Police arrested two men, aged 24 and 45, on suspicion of defrauding luxury watches using fake stablecoins. The suspects approached Rolex watch sellers on the online second-hand trading platform Marktplaats. They promised to pay with EURC, a legitimate Euro-backed stablecoin issued by Circle, and then proceeded to the transaction.

However, the assets deposited into the sellers' wallets were not legitimate coins but elaborately replicated forged tokens. Blockchain explorers and wallet screens displayed normal token names and transaction histories, so victims did not realize they were fake at the time of the transaction. The police launched an investigation after receiving a damage report in August 2025 and arrested suspects from Heeren and Leiden. During a search of the Heeren suspect's residence, firearms and drugs were also found.

Dutch judicial authorities have ordered a 14-day detention investigation for the 24-year-old suspect and are investigating whether there were additional crimes. The accomplice from Leiden was released but continues to be investigated as a suspect. Fraud crimes exploiting the characteristics of blockchain, where only the smart contract address differs but the token name and ticker can be manipulated to be identical, are rampant, causing an alert in the offline luxury direct trading market.

Investigative authorities urged investors to exercise extreme caution when conducting face-to-face transactions using virtual assets. They pointed out that it is essential not to rely solely on the visible asset name or wallet deposit notifications but to cross-reference with the official smart contract address of the issuer. Police advised avoiding unfamiliar virtual asset payment methods, stating, "Even if the transaction screen appears to show money being deposited normally, it could be a manipulated fake."

[Article Summary]

-Dutch police arrested a fraud ring that purchased real Rolex watches with forged stablecoin EURC.

-The suspects deceived sellers by sending fake replicated tokens that looked and were named identically.

-Authorities urged not to trust only the deposit history displayed on the screen but to verify by cross-referencing with the official contract address.

*Disclaimer: This article is for investment reference only, and we are not responsible for any investment losses based on it. The content should be interpreted for informational purposes only.*