{"id":1744,"date":"2019-11-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-25T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/?p=1744"},"modified":"2026-08-06T23:35:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T21:35:20","slug":"phishing-shifts-text-messages-whatsapp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/phishing-shifts-text-messages-whatsapp\/","title":{"rendered":"Phishing shifts to text messages and WhatsApp"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the first half of 2019, losses from payments fraud caused by phishing and debit card fraud rose by around one third.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Stack<\/figure>\n\n\n

In recent months, banks have received a striking number of reports from customers about phishing through mobile messaging services such as text messages, WhatsApp and Messenger. This is shown by the fraud figures from Dutch banks collected and reported by the Dutch Payments Association and the Dutch Banking Association(opens in new window)<\/span> <\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a>.
In recent months, banks\u2019 phishing reporting centres (in Dutch)(opens in new window)<\/span> <\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a> have received almost twice as many reports about phishing through mobile messaging services as about phishing by email. The attempted fraud often starts on a trading platform such as Marktplaats or Speurders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debit card fraud via text messages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Large numbers of fake text messages are also used to trick cardholders into posting their debit card (in Dutch)(opens in new window)<\/span> <\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a> to a supposed recycling company and entering their PIN on a fake website purporting to belong to their bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Losses from fraud involving debit cards that had been posted, stolen or lost increased in the first half of 2019, from \u20ac2 million in the second half of last year to \u20ac2.59 million in the first half of this year. Fraudsters are increasingly using text messages to deceive cardholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n