Hacker blocks invoices: Shooters Festival Limburg deleted for 78,000 euros

The organization of the Oud-Limburgs Schuttersfeest (OLS) has been defrauded of tens of thousands of euros by phishing. The fraud penetrated the organization’s systems and was able to siphon off 78,000 euros.

The scammer used invoices from suppliers for this purpose. By changing the bank account numbers on these invoices, the money did not go to the suppliers, but to the fraudster. The money lost by the suppliers because of that was still paid by the group.

Today the company presented the turnover figures. The group will finish OLS 2024 with a profit of 110,000 euros. That could have been higher if hackers hadn’t gotten away with the money, he wrote News L1. According to the chairman Ger Koopmans, members and militias involved believed that the hack was “bad” for the financial result.

The fraud was discovered in early September. The group then informed the police about the incident. Who is behind it has not yet been identified.

OLS is an annual event on the first Sunday of July. Schutters from Belgian and Dutch Limburg then join. They dress up in costumes and compete against each other in shooting competitions. It attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year.

Ten years ago, the OLS received the status of intangible cultural heritage in the Netherlands. He already had that status in Flanders.

The financial result of the event was at least lower this year, as security costs were higher than previously budgeted. The consumer price was also kept low and no money was paid for using toilets.