
The Belgian Minister of Telecommunications has warned that scammers who steal money from victims via email or SMS scams are more active in the end-of-year period.
Minister Petra de Sutter, of the Belgian Green Party, said that experts have warned that in recent years, criminals using cyber fraud have been more active towards the end of the year. In a press release covered by De Standaard, she explained that “Almost everyone expects a package in that period and can easily be misled by an email or text message about a delivery.”
Therefore, in order to help combat this danger, De Sutter announced that the Belgian government would allocate 2 million euros to help fight against such practices. The funds should be able to help telecom operators develop software which can prevent fraudulent text messages from being sent.
To underline the potential risk posed to Belgians, De Sutter pointed to a poll in which a quarter of the Flemish population admitted that they were not careful when it came to clicking on a link in, for example, a text message. Whilst telecom operators do try to prevent these types of scams, it is possible for some to “still slip through the cracks”.
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