Scammers target Dutch taxpayers as the Belastingdienst bank switch creates new fraud risk

While the bank migration is an ordinary administrative step for the Belastingdienst, it creates an ideal environment for fraud. When a new IBAN is expected, some people pay without questioning it and fraudsters know this. Phishing campaigns will circulate fake payment instructions designed to divert tax payments into criminal accounts.

Payment fraud, particularly Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, where victims are manipulated into transferring money voluntarily, is becoming increasingly common. Fraudsters increasingly exploit institutional events: mergers, regulatory changes, supplier switches, and now government bank migrations. Any moment when a new account number is anticipated becomes a window of opportunity. SurePay processes over 20 million checks a day in Europe alone, highlighting the scale of the challenge.

Thanks to AI, these scams are getting increasingly sophisticated and faster. Criminals can produce personalised communications which are almost indistinguishable from the real thing. Research from Conclusion shows that 78% of Dutch people can no longer tell real from fake as a result of AI and the consequences of this are significant.

The Global Anti-Scam Alliance reported that €2.6 billion was stolen by scammers in the Netherlands in the past year alone. 22% of Dutch people reported losing money to scammers in 2025. The most common payment channel used was bank or wire transfer, with 50% of funds being sent this way, double the EU average (25%).

In response to the growing threat, SurePay’s free checker, accessible at surepay.eu/dutch-tax-office/, allows any taxpayer to enter an IBAN and receive an instant confirmation of whether it matches the official Belastingdienst accounts at Rabobank. The check takes seconds and requires no login or registration.

“This is a textbook fraud window. An institution like the tax authority switching bank accounts is a gift to scammers and exactly the moment that criminals thrive on. This is why SurePay exists because everyone deserves a simple way to be sure before money moves”, David-Jan Janse, CEO and founder, SurePay.

Verification Of Payee (VOP) exists precisely to close that window. By matching an account name against the IBAN before a payment is authorised, VOP catches mismatches in real time, whether caused by human error or deliberate fraud. Since October 2025, VOP has been mandatory for all eurozone banks under the EU Instant Payments Regulation, a recognition of how central account verification has become to a safe payments ecosystem.

The Belastingdienst has been a SurePay customer since 2023, relying on the IBAN-Name Check service to protect its own payment processes. As the tax authority migrated its accounts from ING to Rabobank, SurePay has extended its verification service to Dutch citizens as a free public tool, ensuring protection reaches beyond the institution to the people it serves.