Boomerang's Bundling of Million Dollar Phishing Claims

Since June, Boomerang, an innovative Belgian legal tech platform, has collected over €12 million in claims. These claims come from consumers who lost money to phishing and are trying to recover it from their banks. A significant portion of these claims are against Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, and Argenta.

Phishing damage to Belgian bank customers rose to 49 million euros in 2024

In 2024, the damage caused by phishing to Belgian bank customers amounted to 49 million euros. According to the banking federation Febelfin, couches 75% of fraud transactions are intercepted, but 25% still slip through the net.

In many cases, banks refuse full refunds by labeling victims as "grossly negligent." This despite the fact that European and Belgian regulations oblige them to immediately refund unauthorized transactions, except in cases of proven fraud. fraud, according to Boomerang.

Boomerang sees a market in the fight against phishing

Boomerang sees a market in this situation. The legal platform operates on a "no cure, no pay" principle. There are no upfront costs. A commission is only deducted from the recovered amount if an amount is actually recovered.

Boomerang demands that banks strictly enforce the "immediate repayment obligation." This means that as soon as a customer reports a suspected fraudulent transaction and files a police report, the bank automatically activates a contingency mechanism and temporarily restores the account as if the disputed transactions had never occurred.

Boomerang Director Jean-Philippe Gawaya gives his opinion

"No one should have to survive a phishing attack for days with a nearly empty bank account and a blocked card," concludes Jean-Philippe Gawaya, CEO of Boomerang. "The principle of 'pay first, discuss later' is legally enshrined and, moreover, humanly necessary."