2023-09-30 04:45:00
Computer crime… under this term, we find facts as different as fraud, hacking, phishing, etc. Nevertheless: the 2022 police report reveals the unprecedented scale of this crime.
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In the Walloon region, we went from 12,639 incidents to 17,220, an increase of 36.2% in the space of one year and a daily average of 47 incidents. It is not much better in Brussels where the toll stands at 8,317, compared to 5,951 in 2021. The increase is less spectacular in Flanders. But the north of the country nevertheless recorded 32,873 incidents in 2022.
The banking sector is perfectly aware of this phenomenon. “In 2022, 39.8 million euros were stolen through phishing while we were at 25 million in 2021. Criminals cleverly took advantage of the energy crisis to claim even more victims,” Febelfin tells us, the federation of banks. The increase is confirmed by figures from the Center for Cybersecurity, Belgian Internet users forwarded less than 6 million suspicious messages in 2022, or 1.5 million more than a year earlier.
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A specialist in fraud and cybercrime at ING, Alexandre Pluvinage notes that the methods used are becoming more and more complex. “Scammers operate in two stages. A first letter allows us to collect a series of data on the person. Some even go so far as to reveal their credit card number. A few weeks later, the thieves contact the person by phone and provide the information they have collected to build confidence. People don’t make the connection between the two.”
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The specialist warns once morest alleged emails from the Pensions Office, Economic Affairs, Finance or other organizations. “We also hear from customers that they are increasingly being contacted via calls made from France. Maybe French crooks have decided to turn to Belgium.”
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If cybercriminals focus on access codes, others play the fraud card via fake investments or love scams. “It’s much more difficult for us to detect because the person makes the payments voluntarily,” laments Alexandre Pluvinage.
At Belfius, we are also very vigilant. “Communicating confidential information in response to codes generated by the card reader allows fraudsters to install the Belfius app or the app of another bank on a new mobile phone. Fraudsters cannot do anything without the active intervention of the victim,” underlines Ulrike Pommée, spokesperson for Belfius. Fraud has been on the rise since the explosion of online shopping.
Published on Friday September 29, 2023 at 8:22 p.m.
“Approximately 75% of “successful” phishing transfers are detected and/or recovered by the bank thanks to effective monitoring and rapid actions of detection and monitoring systems,” says the banking sector spokesperson. At Febelfin, as at ING or Belfius, we insist on the fact that you must contact your organization as quickly as possible if you suspect fraud: “The sooner you do this, the more likely you will be that certain transactions can still be stopped or recovered.”
When a customer is the victim of phishing, the bank opens a file. Each case is examined individually to clarify the circumstances and determine whether the person should be reimbursed or not. The careful investigation may take some time. “We examine how the customer was deceived, if he himself initiated the payment following manipulation by a criminal. If this is the case, there is no refund. If a fraudster initiated the fraudulent payment, there will be a refund except in cases of serious negligence,” specifies Febelfin.
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