Dutch lose €8 million in internet scams

Dutch people reported almost 8 million euros worth of internet fraud to the police last year. A total of nearly 44 thousand reports were made. This is evident from the annual figures of Reporting point Internet Scams, set up by the police to counter internet fraud.

The police received 43,828 reports of internet scams, 6.801 of them were withdrawn. The police region Oost-Nederland received the most reports (8,182) and Limburg received the least (2,751). The average amount of reported damage was 182 euros. The total loss amounted to 7,978,561.28 euros.

The number of dishonest online shops that were closed for fraud increased significantly in 2014. A total of 163 were closed over the entire year. In 2013 only 77 online stores were closed.

It is unclear how many of the reports have actually led to the detection of cyber criminals.