In 2020, more than 41 million euros in damage was reported to the Fraud Help Desk. That is a significant increase compared to 2019, when it was more than 26 million euros, it reports reporting point Monday.
In total, the Fraud Help Desk received approximately 350,000 reports in 2020. Most reports were about identity fraud, especially via WhatsApp.
In WhatsApp fraud, a criminal often pretends to be known to a victim, so that they are less likely to realize that they are being scammed. For example, crooks choose a photo of the known person and use it as a profile photo. Then they say, for example, that they have a new number and that they are in an emergency situation, which means that they need money quickly.
What was especially striking last year, according to the helpdesk, is that cyber criminals are increasingly preparing themselves. For example, they extracted predetermined data in order to be able to present themselves as someone else very convincingly.
The scammer did this, for example, by sending a phishing link or recording a telephone conversation in advance. “With knowledge of personal financial data or the voice of a son or daughter, the deception was hardly recognizable for later victims,” said the Fraud Help Desk.
People lost most of their money to investment fraud, followed by identity fraud (especially company name abuse) and advance payment fraud, where victims pay upfront to receive something.
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