Belgian regulator flags spike in crypto scams

TLDR

Belgiums financial watchdog is warning that crypto and messaging?app scams have surged, costing retail investors tens of millions of euros.

1. The FSMA reports Belgian investors lost about 23.4 million to scams in late 2025, with crypto schemes the single biggest driver.
2. Most cases involve fake trading platforms and WhatsApp contact scams that impersonate banks, brokers, or influencers to pull victims into bogus investments.
3. Belgium is tightening enforcement and awareness campaigns, and the trend fits a broader global rise in high?tech crypto fraud that users everywhere should treat as a serious risk signal.

Deep Dive

1. What The FSMA Reported

Belgiums Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) says Belgian investors lost about 23.4 million to scams in the second half of 2025, including fake crypto investments and WhatsApp schemes. The regulator highlights that crypto fraud is the most common scam type it sees, with fraud reports rising roughly 20 percent per year since 2017. In 2025, the FSMA issued warnings against 240 fraudulent entities and 316 websites and asked courts to block access to many of them, according to a detailed summary of its findings.

2. How The Scams Work

FSMA data shows more than 65 percent of the flagged entities were fraudulent trading platforms, often pretending to be licensed brokers or crypto exchanges. A typical pattern is: an unsolicited WhatsApp, social media message, or phone call, followed by convincing documents, fake dashboards showing profits, and escalating requests for more deposits, then a refusal to process withdrawals. Victims in Belgium are often Dutch?speaking men aged 50 to 69, but the underlying tactics, including phishing links and identity theft of real banks or influencers, are the same seen globally.

3. Why This Matters For Crypto Users

The Belgian warning sits within a wider picture where crypto scams and fraud drained around $17 billion globally in 2025, up from about $13 billion in 2024, according to Chainalysis data cited in a Financial Times report on rising crypto crime and security demand. Regulators respond by blacklisting sites, pushing public beware of fraud campaigns, and in some cases tightening rules on advertising and licensing.

Conclusion

Belgiums spike in crypto and messaging?app scams is less about crypto technology changing and more about criminals scaling up classic fraud patterns around it. For everyday users, the main takeaway is that regulatory action and blacklists help, but the decisive protection is basic operational hygiene: independently verifying platforms, ignoring unsolicited pitches, and assuming that high, guaranteed returns plus pressure to act quickly are red flags, not opportunities.