Preventing and fighting crime

Businesses may face various forms of crime. Several Dutch organisations provide information about the steps you can take in order to prevent this from happening:

• Government.nl provides information about crime prevention and cyber crime (crime in which a computer is the object of the crime or is used as a tool to commit an offense). If you have fallen victim to ransomware, you can use No More Ransom to delete the software.
• The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) offers a factsheet with 10 rules of thumb of internet safety.
• The Dutch Centre for Crime Prevention and Community Safety (CCV) offers (in Dutch) information on how to prevent different kinds of crime in your business.
• The Secure Entrepreneurship Scan (Veilig Ondernemen Scan) (in Dutch) gives you an insight about the various crime risks for your business.
• The 'Protect your company' website (Bescherm Je Bedrijf) offers you a step-by-step plan for information security (in Dutch).

Counterfeit money

If you want to check if a banknote is genuine or counterfeit, it is best not to rely on just one feature, but to check a few of them. Feel the note in your hands and look at it closely; if you have any doubts, compare it to one that you know is genuine. You can also use detecting equipment, such as an ultra-violet (UV) lamp. For information on suspect banknotes, check the European Central Bank's website. If you have received a suspected counterfeit, you should contact the Dutch police immediately.

Secure Business Seal of Approval

If you work with the municipality, police or fire service, you can obtain the Secure Business Seal of Approval (Keurmerk Veilig Ondernemen, KVO) for commercial sites and retail areas. KVO helps secure your business against burglary, robberies and fire. As a result, you provide your employees, your customers and yourself with a safe environment.

Submitting a report to the police

If you have been a victim of a crime, such as theft, burglary, robbery, fraud or internal crime, you can report this to the police. You can do this at the police station, by telephone or through their website.

Shop crime and robbery

If you catch a shoplifter in the act, you can claim compensation from the shoplifter for the time spent dealing with the matter. If you participate in the Settling the bill with shoplifters (Afrekenen met winkeldieven) (in Dutch) scheme of the Settling the Bill Foundation (Stichting Afrekenen met Winkeldieven), they will collect the compensation from the shoplifter on your behalf. If you are a victim of robbery, Netherlands Victim Support (in Dutch) can provide you with emotional and legal assistance.

Cybercrime

In 2019 the Dutch government will invest heavily in tackling cybercrime. The threat of cybercrime a fast-growing and serious problem both inside the Netherlands and beyond. The magnitude and severity of its consequences should not be underestimated. Therefore under the new budget the government proposes an integral approach, to tackle the problem of:

• Digital theft (for example identity theft, data theft)
• Extortion
• Fraud
• Cyber attacks on websites
• Industrial espionage

This measure was announced on Prinsjesdag (Budget Day) 2018. It is, of course, subject to the measure passing through the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament. No specific date has been set for its introduction.