Belgium Financial Services and Markets Authority publishes second-half 2025 investment fraud dashboard reporting EUR 23.4 million in consumer losses

The Belgium Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) published its half-yearly dashboard on investment fraud for the second half of 2025, reporting that Belgian consumers notified losses of more than EUR 23,443,906 between July and December 2025. The dashboard also flags a new scam using supposedly exclusive investment advice delivered via WhatsApp groups, with losses in this category totalling more than EUR 9.5 million, and notes that scams linked to cryptocurrencies or fraudulent trading platforms account for nearly half of the fraud reports received. For full-year 2025, the FSMA recorded 2,911 consumer reports of unlawful activity, up 11% from 2024. Over the year it issued 19 warnings covering 240 fraudulent entities and 316 websites and asked the judicial authorities to block those sites; it also stepped up prevention efforts, including participating in a Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium awareness campaign and joining the Belgian Anti-Phishing Shield, through which 245 fraudulent website names have been added since 15 May and 22,973 unique IP addresses redirected to an FSMA warning page. The dashboard is available on the FSMA website.