Over half of Dutch would feel foolish or ashamed after online scams, research finds

Press release
Article tags:
  • Detecting Financial Crime

Over half of Dutch people would feel ashamed if they fell victim to online fraud, research by Ipsos on behalf of ABN AMRO has found. Traditional types of crime, by contrast, such as being pickpocketed or burgled, see only a quarter report feelings of foolishness or shame. Online scam victims were also found to be more reluctant to share their story than those who have fallen prey to traditional crime. Four in ten respondents report they would tell more people about what happened to them if they had experienced traditional crime than if they fell victim to online fraud. ABN AMRO is seeking to make online scams less of a taboo by having victims share their stories and thus help people to better recognise the signs of online fraud.

Digital crime is very much on the rise, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) finds. In the past year, no fewer than 2.5 million Dutch people fell victim to online crime and fraud. The Dutch Banking Association (NVB) puts the damage of bank scams alone – or ‘bank help desk fraud’ as it is known in the Netherlands – at € 47.6 million in 2021. Criminals regularly come up with new ways to outwit their victims and it’s vital that people are open about what has happened to them, allowing others to better recognise fraud or attempted fraud.

Online scam remains taboo

The survey revealed that 40 percent of Dutch people reckon there is a taboo on telling people they’ve been scammed. Although over three-quarters of respondents (79 percent) think victims must not feel deterred from coming forward, it would appear that there is less openness about this type of crime compared with non-digital crime. Forty-one percent of respondents would share their story with fewer people if they were scammed than if they were pickpocketed or burgled. In fact, an average 16 percent would not tell anyone at all.

Key research findings:

  • On average, over half of Dutch people (52 percent) would feel ashamed about being scammed online, compared with an average quarter (25 percent) expecting to feel this way if they fell victim to traditional types of crime.

  • An average 58 percent would feel foolish if scammed online, compared with 29 percent in the event of a traditional type of crime.

  • If faced with types of online fraud, people more frequently (49 percent on average) fear others will think it is their own fault compared with non-digital fraud (average 23 percent).

  • Four in ten Dutch people (39 percent) would tell only a single person if they were scammed online, while an average 16 percent would not tell anyone of their experience of online fraud.

Negative feelings

Feelings of shame more frequently come into play with online scams than with traditional types of crime. Worth noting is that these feelings affect young people more than the over-50s. Nearly two-thirds of respondents in the 18-34 age group (62 percent on average) reckon they would feel ashamed if they were scammed, compared with an average half of over-50s.

Fraud stories

Through its ‘Fraud Stories’ campaign, ABN AMRO is giving fraud victims a voice and showing that anyone could fall victim to online scams, regardless of their age. The bank asked victims of a whole range of fraud types to tell their true stories, and by doing so hopes to encourage others to do the same. To prevent online scams, it’s important that people learn to recognise the cunning ways in which criminals operate, hopefully resulting in fewer fraud victims going forward.