New warnings issued over fraudulent webshops ahead of holiday season

As the holiday season approaches, the Dutch consumer organizations again urged Netherlands residents to be wary of dodgy online stores. In the hope of reducing the number of victims, the organizations have launched a campaign: “First check reviews, then order.”

The police’s National Internet Fraud Reporting Center (LMIO) expects over 40,000 reports of purchase and sales fraud this year. About 14,000 of these cases involve online stores that never delivered after payment, a number the police expect to increase with Black Friday, Sinterklaas, and Christmas on the horizon.

The police expect to take some 1,000 rogue online shops offline this year, over 30 percent more than in 2022. According to the Fraud Help Desk, the average victim loses 350 euros to online shopping fraud, over 20 percent more than last year.

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), the Consumers' Association (Consumentenbond), and the European Consumer Center (ECC) also receive many reports from consumers about dodgy online stores. They, therefore, decided to team up with the police and launch this information campaign.

“Almost 50 percent of the complaints that the ECC receives relate to online purchases,” said Eva Calvelo Muino, director of the ECC. “Purchases are not delivered, consumers do not receive what they ordered or are suddenly confronted with high return costs. You would rather avoid these types of situations. A one-minute review check is often enough to save a lot of hassle.”

The easiest way to check whether an online store is on the level is to check the companies’ reviews. “Google the word 'reviews' and the URL of the webshop and view the experiences of others on multiple review sites. Sort and filter the reviews to get an honest picture of the webshop. Consumers can also check reports on the police website.”