Survey online fraude: Don't be fooled by a 'phish'
6 June 2023 - 3 min Reading time
In 2022, cybercriminals will have sent out massive amounts of phishing messages, posing as trusted organizations, such as banks, utilities and government departments. Regardless of age, level of education, language… everyone is in the crosshairs of cybercriminals, unfortunately also young people. So constant vigilance remains the message. How is online fraud evolving and what are the most current forms of fraud? Are 'phishing' and 'money mules' sufficiently known? Where does the sector focus? Febelfin again had a study carried out with the consultancy firm IndiVille.
Some findings from the storytelling:
- More phishing messages in 2022, so more loot. In 2022, a total of 39.8 million euros was stolen as a result of phishing, an increase compared to last year (2021: 25 million euros). Criminals cleverly capitalized on the energy crisis to trap even more people.
- In 2022, the share of forms of fraud in which the customer initiated the transfer himself (e.g. vault account fraud, request for help fraud, etc.) remained stable, we did not see any particular increase or decrease in this. We see that Belgians are not yet sufficiently aware of these forms of fraud.
- Intensive monitoring and innovative projects help: about 75% of all fraudulent transfers due to phishing were detected and blocked or recovered.
- We share less financial information and take more action. In 2023, 10% of the population shared financial information that made them feel uncomfortable. 88% of those surveyed took action after sharing this information.
- 9 out of 10 Belgians would never pass on their codes to the bank under any circumstances. Although we see an improvement in the figures, too many young people would still provide their bank codes if their bank asks for it. Y
- oung people in particular do not know what 'phishing' is. 8% of Belgians have never heard of phishing, but young people in particular are not yet sufficiently familiar with the term (23%)
- If we allow ourselves to be caught, then we don't know enough what to do. Only 62% of Belgians who fell victim to phishing knew what steps to take.
- The problem of money mules remains major. 17% of young people would lend their bank card and pin code.
- Overview of all new and existing initiatives of the banking sector in the fight against fraud.
