Online shopping fraud reports on the rise

The number of reports of fraud with online purchases has risen significantly in the first months of this year, NU.nl reported based on the Fraud Help Desk findings. The damage from online shopping-related scams is estimated to be 218,023 euros this year so far.

The Fraud Help Desk received 1,809 reports of fraud with online shopping from January to March 16 this year. During that time, 1,492 people in total have been duped, which is almost as many as during the whole of 2019 when 1,571 people were victims of this form of fraud.

The rise is for a large part seen as a consequence of the coronavirus crisis which led to online shopping becoming increasingly popular.

“People who previously did not make their purchases online now also became dependent on the webshops. In addition, we saw that scammers responded to the new situation accordingly by offering face masks, [coronavirus] self-tests, disinfectants or fitness equipment, for example," the Fraud Help Desk representative said.

More than 7,100 victims of online fraud are expected this year and the total damage could reach more than 1 million euros. If this development continues, the number of people targeted by online scams this year could be twice as high compared to last year, the Fraud Help Desk representative warned.

Last year, 3,782 people became victims of online shopping fraud. The total damage amounted to 734,269 euros.