Learn about online scams

You may have already received emails or phone calls purporting to be from the police informing you that you have been fined or that your bank account has been hacked. 

These e-mails are sometimes even signed by Eric Snoeck, Commissioner General of the Federal Police, Michel Goovaerts, Chief of the Brussels Capital Ixelles police zone, or by prosecutors. However, most of these are phishing emails sent by cybercriminals.

Have you received a text message from an unknown number that claims to be your child's? Or a message that your package didn't fit in the mailbox? Called "Smishing", the fake message scam is very common... Here are our precautionary tips.

As the holidays get closer, you may be thinking about booking a holiday on the well-known site Booking.com? Be careful because scammers use the platform's identity to trap users.

Identity theft is particularly used by scammers. It consists in particular of pretending to be your friends or acquaintances, for example on Messenger. Make sure to check the identity of the people you're talking to.

The head of the Regional Cyber Crime Unit (RCCU) of the Federal Criminal Police of Antwerp would like to alert you to worrying cases of falsified invoices sent by e-mail. This phenomenon is increasingly automated and frequent.

Fake news and online fraud are now well-known phenomena. Yet, many people still struggle to distinguish fact from fiction. Social media, news sites, and messaging apps flood us with information on a daily basis, not all of which is reliable. It is therefore essential to remain vigilant online.

Some citizens receive emails signed with the names of heads of police or judicial institutions, including the commissioner general himself. This is an attempted scam. The technique is not new but continues to be used. Beware!

With the help of artificial intelligence software, criminals are now able to clone a voice from a 3-second sound clip. In Great Britain, according to a survey, 28% of respondents say they have been victims of a vocal deepfake. We give you some tips to protect yourself from it.

While artificial intelligence helps us in our daily lives, it can also cause a lot of harm. With AI, more and more deepfakes are emerging and participating in the dissemination of false information. Here are some tips on how to spot them and protect yourself from them.

As the FPS Economy tells us (available only in French or Dutch), three out of four Belgians shop online, a figure higher than the European average. And in the face of this observation, there is a risk of falling into traps. We remind you of some important rules.

Personalities praise the merits of an incredible financial investment? Invited to join a WhatsApp group for exclusive financial advice? Remember that there is no such thing as investments that are too good to be true!

Cybercriminals use many schemes to trick you. Just like when looking for accommodation, they see the world of work as a golden opportunity. Fake offers allow scammers to obtain personal data and money. Mistrust! 

A multitude of cultural and sporting events are organised in Belgium, not to mention the countless music festivals. Even the biggest artists like to perform at the King Baudouin Stadium, the AFAS Dome, Forest National, but also in smaller concert halls. Tickets for such concerts are highly coveted, so the risk of fraud is high.

There are many dangers on social media. Among them, we find fake competitions. Some sites offer branded products for 1 or 2 euros, in exchange for your personal and banking data. Fake pages are also created on the basis of existing competitions. Beware!

The rapid development of the Internet has also given rise to new phenomena, such as grooming. In most cases, these are adults who try to maintain contact with minors through Internet games or social media, and to establish a relationship of trust. Here are some tips to help young people avoid falling into the trap.

While deepfakes are more of a social phenomenon and therefore do not always have a negative impact, deep nudes, on the other hand, clearly cause enormous damage. These are not just faked images, but a direct attack on the privacy and dignity of citizens, which affects them personally.

Romances are constantly increasing and sophisticated. After the case of a French woman scammed out of 830,000 euros by a fake Brad Pitt, it is a fake Lara Fabian who caused a Quebecer to lose some 245,000 euros. In Belgium, a woman in her seventies was the victim of a scammer posing as Pierre Garnier. In this Valentine's Day season, be on your guard!

Showing photos and videos of your children is a source of satisfaction for most parents. It must be said that in this day and age, sharing images online with family and friends has become particularly easy, thanks in particular to social media. This phenomenon has been called sharenting (contraction of the English words sharing and parenting).

It is not uncommon for personal data leaks to make the front page  of the news. Even when they are limited to a "simple" phone number and a name, scammers can resell them and cause significant damage later on. Here are a few rules.

We keep many elements of our online life: emails, photos, bank details, social networks, professional accounts... Digital security has never been more important. Cybercriminals cleverly exploit weak or reused passwords, phishing emails, and stolen credentials to gain access to sensitive information. Fortunately, there are effective ways to better protect our online accounts.

Are you familiar with the phenomenon of "doxxing"? This consists of collecting a person's information in order to exploit it to harm them. It can be intimidation, harassment or revenge. Here are our prevention tips.

Every March 31st, World Backup Day reminds us of a simple but often overlooked gesture: backing up your data. It's only when we are confronted with the loss of our memories or precious files that we realize that we should have acted sooner...

Protecting your privacy online is not easy right now. When you install an app on your smartphone, you are usually asked to allow access to certain information such as photos, location, notifications... Even your behavior on the web or on social media platforms is not privacy proof.

Our smartphone is constantly taking up space in our lives. And frequent use also means exposure to dangers to our privacy. Let's take a look back at some important reminders.

Sextortion is a combination of the words "sex" and "extortion." The author demands money or forces you to send new photos or videos. In the case of revenge porn, the perpetrator threatens to share intimate images or videos in revenge or publicly humiliate you.

Making comments inciting hatred is punishable, in "real life", as well as on social networks. What to do if you are a victim of it or observe it? Let's take a look. 

It could happen to you: while surfing a news site or browsing posts on various social media platforms, you suddenly come across inappropriate images. Here are some tips for dealing with this type of situation.