In an FD column, Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) chair Laura van Geest argues that financial crime, and investment fraud in particular, is being scaled by generative artificial intelligence and increasingly industrialised criminal supply chains, and that vigilance and a broader disruption strategy are needed. The column points to AFM’s recent estimate that losses from investment fraud in the Netherlands could be as high as EUR 750 million a year, while noting that precise figures are lacking due to underreporting and fragmented registration. It describes how “Fraud as a Service” lowers barriers to entry through off-the-shelf components sold on the dark web and via Telegram, and how GenAI enables deepfakes, voice cloning, synthetic identities and more advanced phishing, with recruitment and distribution accelerated through social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Telegram. Cited international research from Signicat reports an 80% rise in fraud attempts and deepfakes accounting for 6.5% of fraud cases compared with under 0.1% three years earlier; the column also flags household savings of EUR 518 billion as of September 2025 and notes that policy efforts to channel savings into more risk-bearing investment, alongside a Dutch Senate proposal to allow a 10% pension withdrawal, could expand the pool of potential victims. Van Geest argues that AI can also be used to detect fraud but warns that cases still fall through gaps, and she highlights “follow the money” approaches and the need to disrupt the full criminal chain by targeting hard-to-replace links. She also calls for stronger cooperation between supervision, investigation and enforcement, including cross-border, and suggests that a central reporting point could help quantify the problem and prevent it from being deprioritised.

Original source View in tracker