Crypto fraud losses continue to rise in Belgium.
The Belgian financial regulator has reported that investors in the country have lost up to $ 12 million to fraudulent advertisements
In a warning issued by the FSMA on October 5, the authority estimated that investors in Belgium lost at least EUR 10 million to fraudulent platforms between May 2019 and September 2020. Including some in connection with Bitcoin System. The FSMA reported that such platforms attract victims with fraudulent advertising on social networks with pictures of celebrities and ask them to divulge information.
„These platforms often try very aggressively to get people to invest larger and larger sums of money,“ the regulator said. „They’re also trying to get you to let them control your computer so they can make certain payments remotely.“
Investors in Belgium are called by scammers after they reveal their contact details and offer to manage their assets. Scammers lure with promises of high or even guaranteed returns
The FSMA’s estimate also counted fraudulent platforms that offer investments in binary options, forex market products and contracts for difference. Nevertheless, there could be an indication of an increase in crypto fraud cases across Belgium.
Cointelegraph reported in May that the Belgian Economic Investigation Agency reported in 2019 that there had been millions of euros in losses from crypto fraud . Another authority previously reported that there had been losses of around 2 million euros due to crypto fraud.
The Belgian authorities have taken preventive measures to resolve the problem. In February, the FSMA has more than 140 fraudulent Web sites related to encryption to a blacklisted . However, the Belgian authority estimated that investors in Belgium typically lose hundreds of millions of euros each year to such scams . The number of unreported cases should be even higher.