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More than €1 million lost to online banking fraud in 2015

15:34 22/02/2016

The number of cases of Internet banking fraud in Belgium last year remained stable compared to 2014, but the amount stolen was considerably higher, writes De Standaard. Businesses are frequent victims of bank fraud, or money theft committed using online technology.

In 2015, there were 283 cases of theft via online banking services, compared to 277 reports the previous year, according to figures from the financial sector federation Febelfin. The amounts transferred, however, totalled about €1.018 million in 2015, compared to €653,082 in 2014.

The hackers focussed more on companies than individuals in 2015, says Febelfin, simply because they can steal larger sums of money. In the second quarter of 2015, for example, company losses from online banking fraud amounted to €538,899 in only 57 cases, a trend that weakened in the second half of 2015, likely due to heightened security measures within the businesses.  

Written by Robyn Boyle