National Threat Assessment 2008. Organised Crime - Politie

3.3.6 Crime-related factors and expectations
To limit the number of Dutch victims, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial
Markets (AFM) provides potential investors with information and advice. The
information concerns the Financial Supervision Act, which entered into force
on 1 January 2007 and in which the possibilities for the AFM were expanded.
Previously, a criminal prosecution was not possible after a warning had been
given. Now, a warning by the AFM to a mala fide supplier is no longer punitive
in nature and the possibility remains open to start criminal proceedings after all.
Unfortunately, the reality is that many fraudsters set up their fraud from abroad.
This enables them to evade Dutch laws and regulations, whilst they still focus on
Dutch consumers via the Internet. The AFM is also working on increasing
people’s awareness of the Financial Markets Hotline, where consumers can
report suspect suppliers of financial products. The Ministry of Finance intends
to make sure that the financial knowledge of consumers increases by developing
the ‘CentiQ’ website. The aim of the website is to warn and inform consumers;
it is operational since 2008. The information is not only intended for major
investors, but also for private individuals who have been speculating with
borrowed money. The AFM has no legal powers of supervision for investments
of more than € 50,000.
The West-African criminal networks that were involved in advance fee fraud
relatively often were tackled in the national Apollo project. The project focused
on disrupting the activities of WACN that operate from the Netherlands. The
approach seems to have been successful, as there are indications that the
swindlers are moving to other countries. Project Apollo ended in late 2007,
which may lead to offender groups once again increasing their use of the
existing opportunities in the Netherlands.
The use of the Fata Morgana method is not expected to change significantly in
the near future. The method remains attractive to fraudsters, as it can be applied
relatively easily and there will always be people who are convinced by a tempting
offer. The procedure used can be adjusted easily to changing circumstances
without changing the construction. The products offered are easily adjusted to
the current situation as well; shortly after the commotion about investments in
teak, for example, people offering fraudulent investment products jumped on
the bandwagon of the next popular investment object, for instance property in
Dubai. New target groups are contacted if the contact method used so far
proves to have lost its effect. New victims are then recruited via new channels,
sometimes via large-scale recruitment (TV commercials), sometimes via a
targeted one-on-one approach (dating sites). There are no indications that in the
future fewer people will put their trust in fraudsters or that the risk of getting
chapter 3 – Fraud and money laundering
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