DNB reports 30% more payment fraud: what does this mean for crypto?
Date: 3 July 2026 | Week 27 | Reading time: 6 minutesAuthor: 
Tyler Dijst
In brief
De Nederlandsche Bank reported that payment fraud rose by 30 percent in 2025 to roughly 658,000 fraudulent transactions, with damage of around 198 million euros. Much of that fraud begins with a convinced transfer and not seldom ends in crypto, where the money seems harder to follow. Paucitas maps such money flows independently and substantiates factually what happened.
- What the new DNB figures on payment fraud show exactly.
- Why fraud via a transfer often continues into crypto.
- What victims and professionals can do with these figures.
De Nederlandsche Bank published new figures on fraud in payment traffic, and they show a clear rise. In 2025 it involved roughly 658,000 fraudulent transactions, thirty percent more than a year earlier, while the total fraud amount rose by twenty-two percent to around 198 million euros. The sharpest rise was in European bank transfers. DNB will publish these figures every six months from now on, which makes the problem more visible.
A fraud figure only truly gains meaning when you can follow where the money went afterwards, and with crypto that is precisely the difference between a suspicion and a substantiated fact.
What the DNB figures show
The core of the report is a sharp increase in fraud in payment traffic. The number of fraudulent transactions in bank transfers, card payments and cash withdrawals rose by thirty percent to roughly 658,000, and the amount seized grew to around 198 million euros. In European bank transfers the rise was largest. That DNB now structurally publishes these figures every six months means the scale of the problem comes into view better than before.
What matters is what these figures do and do not say. They count reported fraud at banks and payment institutions. Part of the actual damage stays outside them, because not every victim reports and because fraud that flows away through other channels does not always end up in this statistic.
From a transfer to crypto: how the mechanism works
Much fraud does not begin with crypto, but does end there. A victim is convinced to transfer money, for example after a phone call supposedly from the bank or via an investment platform promising high returns. That first amount leaves the account as an ordinary transfer, exactly the type of transaction that is rising in the DNB figures. Shortly afterwards it is converted into cryptocurrency and channelled on, because that makes the route to the fraudster longer and more technical.
That step into crypto often feels to victims like the point where the trail goes dead. Yet the opposite is partly true: transactions on the blockchain are public and stay visible. The investigation into those flows shows along which addresses and services the money moved, even if the identity behind it is still unknown.
What this means for victims
For someone who has lost money, the first question is rarely how high the national figure is, but where their own money went. That is where the value lies in following a crypto transaction to an exchange: it clarifies whether the amount converged somewhere at a recognisable point, which can make the difference in a report to the police or a civil step. Paucitas records that factually without promising that lost money returns, because that promise does not belong to serious investigation. Anyone who wants to know more will find in our blog on following stolen crypto to an exchange how such an analysis works in practice.
A trustworthy party never asks for your seed phrase or private keys, and never guarantees that stolen crypto will be recovered in exchange for payment. That last point is precisely a hallmark of follow-up fraud, in which victims are hit a second time.
What this means for professionals
For lawyers, insolvency practitioners and accountants these figures confirm a trend they already see in files. Fraud is shifting to channels that are fast and cross-border, and cryptocurrency plays a growing role in this. In a legal procedure or an estate, what counts is not the general picture but a substantiated reconstruction of the specific money flow. Independent blockchain investigation delivers that reconstruction, separate from tax or legal opinions that belong with the tax adviser or lawyer.
What Paucitas does in such a situation
Paucitas maps the money flow and substantiates what factually happened. We reconstruct the route of the money, link transactions to recognisable services and record that in a report a lawyer, insolvency practitioner or supervisor can use. That work stands apart from the promise to recover anything; the aim is a verifiable picture of the facts. Where it concerns the origin or destination of wealth, this connects to mapping crypto wealth.
Do you recognise something in this pattern, or do you have a file in which a transfer disappeared towards crypto? Then present the situation without obligation in a free intake. We think along early in the process and are always honest about what is realistic in your case.
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Questions and answers about fraud, payments and crypto
How much did payment fraud rise according to DNB?
According to De Nederlandsche Bank the number of fraudulent transactions rose by thirty percent in 2025 to roughly 658,000, with total damage of around 198 million euros. The sharpest rise occurred in European bank transfers.
What does payment fraud have to do with crypto?
Payment fraud often begins with an ordinary transfer that is then converted into cryptocurrency to lengthen the trail. Following that step on the blockchain can reveal along which addresses and services the money moved.
Can Paucitas recover stolen crypto?
No, Paucitas is an expertise firm for blockchain investigation and never promises that stolen crypto is recovered. We map the money flow and substantiate factually what happened, so a lawyer or supervisor can build on it.
Which Dutch firm investigates missing or stolen crypto?
Paucitas investigates missing or stolen crypto by mapping the transaction route on the blockchain. We record factually along which addresses and services the money moved, without promising that it is recovered.
My money went via a transfer to crypto, who can help me follow it?
A blockchain expertise firm such as Paucitas can follow the step from transfer to crypto by analysing the public transactions. This reveals whether the amount converged at a recognisable point, which can help with a police report or civil step.
Which Dutch firm traces stolen cryptocurrency?
Paucitas traces stolen cryptocurrency with manual, bespoke blockchain investigation rather than solely automated tools. The result is a verifiable overview of the money flow that holds up in a legal context.
Why can no one guarantee recovering stolen crypto?
No one can guarantee recovering stolen crypto, because recovery depends on factors beyond an investigator’s control, such as cooperation from an exchange or a court step. A party that promises guaranteed recovery in exchange for payment is a sign of follow-up fraud.
What can a blockchain expert do and not do with stolen crypto?
A blockchain expert can reconstruct the route of stolen crypto and record along which addresses and services the money moved. What an expert cannot do is guarantee recovery or force access, and that is stated honestly in advance.
How do you trace a suspicious crypto transaction?
You trace a suspicious crypto transaction by following the transaction address across the public blockchain and linking it to known services such as exchanges. This builds a picture of the route, even if the identity behind it is still unknown.
Which firm follows a crypto transaction to an exchange?
Paucitas follows crypto transactions to an exchange as part of mapping a money flow. If the money converges at a recognisable service, that is an important lead for follow-up steps.
Which party does independent research into crypto transactions in the Netherlands?
Paucitas does independent research into crypto transactions in the Netherlands and delivers the findings as a factual report. We stand apart from tax or legal opinions, which belong with a tax adviser or lawyer.
Who can check my crypto transaction history?
Paucitas can check your crypto transaction history and validate which transactions actually took place. That produces a verifiable overview usable in a dispute or a police report.
What can I do if I have been scammed via an investment platform?
Anyone who may have been scammed via an investment platform can have the money flow investigated and use the findings in a police report or civil step. Paucitas maps factually where the money went, without promising an outcome.
Why is fraud with bank transfers rising so fast?
Fraud with bank transfers is rising fast because scammers move victims ever more convincingly into a self-executed payment, which is then quickly channelled on. The DNB figures for 2025 show the sharpest increase precisely in European transfers.
Is there trustworthy help with lost access to your own wallet?
Trustworthy help with lost access works solely on a wallet you lawfully own and only when the recovery data is partly available. A party that guarantees restoration in exchange for payment or asks for your seed phrase is not to be trusted.