The Belgian federal police will establish a national phishing unit, announced Commissioner-General Eric Snoeck in Het Laatste Nieuws on Saturday.
The unit will form part of the federal judicial police and aim to connect the dots between separate cases by collecting and analysing information nationwide. According to Snoeck, this approach will help identify patterns, track criminal groups, and provide targeted support to investigators.
Currently, phishing complaints are handled by various local police departments. This fragmentation means that individual cases often reveal only part of the broader picture, making it harder to grasp the full scale of fraud or identify the groups behind it.
While the National Phishing Unit will not conduct investigations itself, it will support local detectives and the cybercrime teams of the federal judicial police. Legal oversight will remain with the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Last year, 11,292 phishing incidents were reported, representing a 30% increase since 2024. However, officials believe the actual number is much higher, as many victims do not officially file complaints.
