Belgian Regulator Reports €23 Million in Investment Scam Losses in Late 2025

Belgiums financial watchdog has reported a sharp rise in losses linked to investment fraud during the second half of 2025, with consumers losing more than €23 million to scams involving illegal trading schemes and fake investment services.

Data released by the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) shows that between July and December, authorities received over 1,600 reports related to unauthorised financial offers. Not only did the number of cases increase, but the average amount lost per victim also climbed, suggesting that scam operations are becoming more organised and financially aggressive.

Fake Trading Platforms Remain the Largest Source of Losses

Among all scam categories, fraudulent trading platforms accounted for the highest financial damage, with total losses exceeding €10 million. These websites typically present themselves as legitimate cryptocurrency or online trading services, despite lacking any regulatory approval.

According to the FSMA, many of these schemes rely on intensive online advertising to push users into making fast decisions and transferring funds before conducting proper checks. Once payments are made, victims often find it impossible to recover their money.

WhatsApp “Stock Tips” Scams Rapidly Gaining Ground

Another fast-growing form of fraud involves so-called exclusive stock recommendations circulated through private WhatsApp groups. Losses from these schemes during the same six-month period approached €10 million, making them one of the fastest-expanding sources of consumer harm identified by regulators.

In most cases, victims are first targeted through social media ads on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, which promote invitations to private messaging groups claiming to offer insider market information or unusually high returns. To appear credible, scammers frequently misuse the names and logos of banks, financial institutions, or media organisations.

Once inside the groups, participants receive messages from individuals posing as economists, analysts, or senior investment managers. Regulators note that these identities are typically fabricated or stolen from real professionals.

Victims may then be encouraged to join fake prize draws to collect personal data, buy specific US-listed stocks as part of coordinated price manipulation, or download fraudulent apps claiming to offer crypto trading services. In many cases, the ultimate objective is either direct fund transfers or harvesting sensitive personal information for further exploitation.

Middle-Aged Investors Most Frequently Targeted

Regulatory analysis shows that most victims of WhatsApp investment scams are Dutch-speaking men aged between 50 and 69. This group is considered particularly vulnerable due to having accumulated savings and the capacity to invest relatively large sums.

Average losses per victim are estimated at around €73,000, with some cases involving losses in the hundreds of thousands of euros. During the second half of 2025 alone, FSMA recorded more than 260 complaints specifically related to WhatsApp stock scams, and roughly 60% of complainants had already transferred money before contacting authorities.

Other Fraud Schemes Continue to Cause Damage

Beyond crypto and messaging-app scams, regulators also tracked losses from fake loan offers, so-called fund recovery services, and fraudulent portfolio management schemes. Losses linked to fake “asset recovery” services alone reached nearly €900,000, while deceptive alternative investment products caused additional multi-million-euro damage.

Complaints Continue to Rise Nationwide

The overall number of scam reports connected to illegal financial activity continues to grow. Throughout 2025, FSMA received nearly 3,000 consumer complaints, marking an 11% increase compared with the previous year. Since 2017, the average annual growth rate of scam-related reports has remained close to 20%.

Monthly figures also reveal spikes during periods of heavy advertising campaigns and heightened market volatility, with October registering the highest volume of reports for the year.

Hundreds of Warnings Issued as Regulators Step Up Alerts

In response, FSMA issued warnings against 240 fraudulent entities and more than 300 websites during 2025, with nearly two-thirds of the alerts linked to fake trading platforms.

The regulator continues to urge consumers to treat unsolicited investment offers with extreme caution, especially when they arrive through social media ads or private messaging apps. Investors are also advised to verify regulatory authorisation before transferring funds and to avoid any scheme that pressures them to act quickly.