Franc Weerwind, the Dutch minister for legal protection, responded to Parliamentary questions about influencers promoting fake sports results to deceive.
“Fraud and incitement to commit criminal acts are harmful and also illegal,” he said. “In this case, it appears to happen under the guise of ‘making quick money through sports betting.’
“The so-called manipulated results are purchased from the fraudsters on Telegram and paid for using cryptocurrency. This is an attempt by the fraudsters to remain anonymous and, according to the AD report, they are difficult to trace.
“From the integrated approach to online fraud, various public and private organisations focus on enhancing the resilience of citizens against online fraud. An important intervention in this regard is countering social engineering.
“Social engineering involves fraudsters exploiting human characteristics such as fear, greed, curiosity, trust, and ignorance to deceive victims and make them lose money. The Dutch government will launch a multi-year campaign program this autumn to enhance the digital resilience of Dutch citizens, including awareness of social engineering, and reduce victimisation of cybercrime and online fraud.
“The first campaign will specifically target young people and enhance their ability to recognise messages and advertisements that seem too good to be true.”
