30% Surge in Fraudulent Webshops

The Netherlands – So, have you heard about the latest cyber sweep in the Netherlands? Over a thousand fraudulent webshops were yanked off the net by the National Reporting Centre for Internet Scams.

That’s a hefty 30% jump from last year. And if that doesn’t grab your attention, get this: the average damage from these scams has ballooned by about 350 euros—that’s a 20% spike from the previous year.

Unveiling the Scam Statistics

The folks over at the Consumer & Market Authority (ACM) dropped these bombshells. They’re bracing for over 40,000 complaints this year related to buying and selling swindles.

A staggering 14,000 of these complaints are tied to webshops that ghost customers after payment. But here’s the kicker: the real figure might be higher. About 10,000 victims say they got duped via Instagram before likely ending up at a webshop. These cases, though, they didn’t make it into the official scam tally.

The Counter-Offensive: ‘Check Reviews, Then Order’ Campaign

Now, to combat these swindles, ACM, the Consumers’ Association, the European Consumer Centre (ECC), the Fraud Help Desk, and the Dutch National Internet Scam Hotline are rolling out a new campaign.

It’s catchy: “Check reviews, then order.” They say you should hunt for online reviews by pairing the webshop’s URL with the keyword ‘reviews’. Plus, you can peek at reports and complaints on the police’s site.

Edwin van Houten, the head honcho for consumers at ACM, put it bluntly: “This year, we’re again joining forces to alert shoppers about these shady webshops.

With the holiday season coming up, nobody wants to be left with a dud purchase or a delivery that’s tardy or never shows. So, do yourself a solid—scour those reviews before you buy! This quick check almost always weeds out the fraudsters and shops that can’t get their act together.”