As representatives of EFRI, which advocates for over 1,600 victims of cybercriminals who made authorised card payments and bank transfers after being socially engineered by scammers, we write from direct experience with the devastating human cost of APP fraud. Many of these individuals lost their entire life savings and now
No surprise for us: ING has been supporting scams! On Monday Stichting Collectief Forward Gold Sale (“FGS”) filed a WAMCA -collective action – in the Amsterdam District Court against ING Bank N.V. and Bunq B.V..According to the writ of summons (registered under Article 1018c(2) Dutch Code of Civil Procedure) the
The European Funds Recovery Initiative (EFRI) has issued a formal letter to the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA)—with a copy to the European Banking Authority (EBA)—urging the regulator to urgently reassess the Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence it granted to StablR Ltd. in June 2024. Background: a €200 million fraud story
AMLA launches with big promises! As of 1 July 2025, the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLA) has opened its doors in Frankfurt am Main, the seat fixed in the founding Regulation (EU) 2024/1620. Its first chair, Bruna Szega, and an executive board drawn from
EFRI represents 65 victims in their claims for refunds from P2P GmbH, which are pending before the German prosecutor in Cologne. If you have also transferred money to this account and have not yet filed a claim, please get in touch. Background In 2018, the criminal syndicate led by Barak,
As legislative negotiations over the draft Payment Services Directive 3 (PSD3) and Payment Services Regulation (PSR) intensify, the debate over how — and to what extent — authorised payment fraud should be addressed through liability rules for payment service providers (PSPs) has gained urgency. (See, for example, the contribution by
On 10 June 2025, the European Fund Recovery Initiative (EFRI) formally submitted a disciplinary complaint to the Haagse Orde van Advocaten, the local Bar Association for The Hague, against the Dutch law firm BarentsKrans and its partner , This action follows the events previously described in our earlier publications: Ethical Concerns
BarentsKrans, one of the leading Dutch law firms, is facing growing criticism over its handling of the EFRI & Van Ruiten vs. Payvision / ING appeal case. The European Fund Recovery Initiative (EFRI), representing more than 600 victims of financial fraud, has raised serious concerns about the firm’s adherence to
The recent warning by the UK Gambling Commission to five Premier League clubs about their sponsorship ties with unlicensed gambling operators echoes a troubling pattern that European consumers are all too familiar with – the era of fraudulent binary options providers like Option888. TGP Europe: Unlicensed and Under Scrutiny AFC
On 24 April 2025, the Dutch law firm BarentsKrans formally accepted a mandate to represent EFRI and Nxx van Rxx in an appeal against Payvision/ING — a case involving more than 600 victims of large-scale online investment fraud from across Europe. Only three weeks later — and just hours after
