In 2023, 70,000 reports of online fraud were made to the police. The total financial damage amounted to more than 100 million euros. This is stated in the 2024 phenomenon picture ‘Online fraud in focus’drawn up by researchers from the National Expertise and Operations Unit (LX) and the National Investigation and Interventions Unit (LO).
The number of registrations of online fraud has increased significantly since 2014. The frequency of online fraud does vary depending on the type. Various methods emerged and some decreased in frequency.
The report discusses, among other things, bank help desk fraud, investment fraud, payment request fraud, sextortion and abuse of account orders.
Purchase and sales fraud topped the number of registrations in 2023 (42,359), followed by bank helpdesk fraud (6970), assistance request fraud (5981) and payment request fraud (4000). In reality, these numbers are higher because many victims do not report or report the crime.
The financial damage varies considerably per type of fraud. Bank helpdesk fraud caused EUR 33.7 million in damage in 2023, and investment fraud caused damage of EUR 31 million. In invoice fraud and purchase and sales fraud, victims were defrauded of 13 and 11.1 million euros respectively.
Criminals who were guilty of payment request fraud or assistance fraud caused damage worth 2.6 and 1.1 million respectively. “What is striking here is that the offenses with the most registrations do not necessarily cause the greatest damage in total,” says Neeltje Geldermans, Head of Operations and portfolio holder for tackling digital crime. ‘In some forms of fraud, a single incident leads to a high amount of damage.’
The various forms of online crime, such as bank help desk fraud, phishing or sextortion, are no less impactful than traditional crime, such as chatter tricks and burglaries. Many victims say they have less trust in people (37%) and a reduced sense of safety (30%), according to research by Statistics Netherlands. Sleep problems, depressive complaints and anxiety complaints occur in 7 to 8 percent of the victims. Victims are left with the feeling that they themselves participated in the crime, which leads to self-blame.
Perpetrators of online fraud are predominantly young (two-thirds are under 30 years old). The gangs often have a fixed core surrounded by a loose group of facilitators and executors, such as callers and phishers. Research into the antecedents of suspects shows that the switch from one form of online fraud to another is small. Bank helpdesk fraud, bank phishing and assistance fraud often go together. By reselling captured goods and securing criminal proceeds, online fraud and traditional crimes such as theft, fencing or money laundering often go hand in hand.
Source: www.emerce.nl
