The new FPS Economy Central Desk, set up exactly a year ago has received 28,000 reports of fraud and scam incidents. Some 2,600 of these led to a file being opened for dishonest practices.
This is reported in De Tijd today (Wednesday).
Over the space of a year, Belgians have reported 2,195 cases of false invoices, 3,725 frauds relating to e-commerce and 2,193 undelivered parcels. Some 3,400 people also reported unsolicited advertising telephone calls, whilst they themselves were on the “Do not call” list. Moreover, two companies were sanctioned by the Economic Inspectorate for their dishonest behaviour.
Other complaints concerned conterfeit goods (850), misleading advertisements (800), problems linked to guarantees (600) and even black market concert tickets (400).
The federal Minister for the Economy and Consumer Rights, Kris Peeters (of the New Flemish Alliance) explained, “It is not always clear to consumers and businesses to know who to contact in the event of frauds and scams.” He concluded, “The opening of this Central Desk has led to an increase of 70% in incidents reported.”
The Brussels Times
