Many phishing reports have been made to The Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium in recent months. In the last quarter of last year, there were 226 reports, and 106 in January of this year.
The story told by telephone scammers varies. “Sometimes they pretend to be the police, saying that you are mentioned in a file. In recent reports, they claim to be calling on behalf of Proximus, Argenta or Card Stop,” explained CCB spokesperson Katrien Eggers.
Such fraudulent calls are certainly not new, but they recur regularly, warns the CCB. “It comes in waves, with many reports in December and January, and the upward trend seems to be continuing in February,” stated Eggers. The increase can partly be explained by recent campaigns on telephone fraud, which have made people more alert.
Belgians lost at least €38.3 million to online investment fraud last year, according to the financial regulator FSMA. Scams through WhatsApp.
The calls often come from foreign numbers and start with a robocall. If the victim presses a number, an operator, in this case a fraudster, comes on the line.
People can limit the risk by being wary of unknown numbers and, if in doubt, not proceeding, Eggers added. “It is particularly important not to share any codes over the telephone.”
