Chamber of Commerce: entrepreneurs can do more against fraud

This article was last updated on January 10, 2025

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Chamber of Commerce: entrepreneurs can do more against fraud

In the Netherlands, around 25,000 entrepreneurs have been scammed in the past year, according to research by the Chamber of Commerce (KvK). Entrepreneurs can do much more themselves to prevent fraud, the Chamber of Commerce says in an explanation.

Scams include items that have been paid for but not delivered. “We have seen stories of entrepreneurs who made down payments for goods and raw materials and did not receive them,” says Edou Ritsma, anti-fraud project leader at the Chamber of Commerce. “And afterwards they discovered that they were doing business with a party that was not even registered in the trade register.”

Implications

The Chamber of Commerce has not investigated whether more or fewer entrepreneurs were defrauded last year than the year before, but Ritsma thinks 25,000 is a worrying number. Also because fraud can quickly lead to problems, especially for small entrepreneurs. “A damage amount of 25,000 euros can have enormous consequences, for example because entrepreneurs can no longer make certain investments.”

Entrepreneurs should check the background of new customers much more, including by looking in the trade register. “How long has the company been in existence? Who is authorized to do business and sign contracts on behalf of that company?” says Ritsma. According to him, it can also help to first request a down payment or payment of the full amount at once before delivery.

An entrepreneur could also first start with small deliveries for a new customer, says Ritsma. “If that goes well, you can scale up to somewhat larger deliveries and larger quantities.”

Currently, one in five entrepreneurs is taking measures against fraud. According to the Chamber of Commerce, this is too little.L