Protect yourself against online scams and reputation damage

KBC Internet Protection Insurance

Protect yourself against online scams and reputation damage

KBC Internet Protection Insurance

Protect your payments

If you’re scammed online, we’ll reimburse the amount you paid to the scammers.

Safeguard your identity

If someone steals your personal details online, we’ll compensate you for any resulting financial loss.

Shield your reputation

If you’re slandered or defamed online, a specialist will help you defend and limit damage to your reputation.

The KBC Internet Protection Insurance is not being sold anymore

You can no longer take out KBC Internet Protection Insurance, as it is not being sold anymore. If you want to protect yourself against the consequences of cybercrime, check out KBC CyberSecure Insurance instead.

Check out KBC CyberSecure Insurance

What is KBC Internet Protection Insurance?

Internet use is on the rise. That unfortunately includes criminals.

  • 12 432 people in Belgium were scammed in 2019 (2019 figures from financial industry regulator Febelfin), up by a substantial 27.5 percent on 2018 figures (9 747 people).
  • Over 1 300 consumers in Belgium don’t receive what they paid for or receive nothing at all every month. Last year, the Belgian Economic Inspection Board closed down some 2 600 online stores.

KBC Internet Protection Insurance fully compensates financial losses from online fraud of over 100 euros (up to 10 000 euros per claim and per calendar year).

This insurance also covers financial loss from online identity theft (up to 5 000 euros per claim and per calendar year).

If you’re cyberbullied or your reputation is damaged online and you have KBC Internet Protection Insurance, our specialist partner will help you limit the consequences of the damage you’ve suffered. The insurance covers our partner’s fees up to a maximum of 5 000 euros per claim and per calendar year.

Some examples of online fraud:

  • You book a holiday home in Italy online for the whole family, but the property doesn’t exist and a scammer runs off with your money.
  • You see a heavily discounted 4K television for sale online, which you hurriedly buy online (the payment comes straight off your account) but the TV is never delivered as the online shop turns out to be fake.
  • You receive an urgent e-mail from ‘your energy supplier’ reminding you to pay your bill. If you don’t pay, they’ll shut off your electricity power without delay. You later find out that the e-mail wasn’t from your energy supplier at all, but scammers who tricked you into paying right away.
  • You get an e-mail congratulating you on winning the lottery. All you have to do to claim your winnings is to pay a 500-euro admin fee to a ‘notary-public’, which you pay – only to never receive a single cent.
     

A few tips

  •  Always update your operating system and security software to the most recent version.
  • Never tell anyone your PIN or other banking codes over the phone, in an e-mail, by text message or on social media. Beware of messages linking to your bank’s payment environment. Check e-mails for their legitimacy, especially ones that look like they are from your bank. Think before you click!
  • Order from reliable online shops in Belgium and its neighbouring countries. That way, you’ll have a better chance of solving any problems afterwards by e-mail, over the phone or maybe even on the spot.
  • Pay only using a secure payment service and a secure Internet connection. Avoid using free or public Wi-Fi for purchases.
  • Be wary of ads with implausible promotions or miracle products. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

What’s insured?

1. Internet fraud

What can you expect?

Online fraudsters often pretend to be public authorities, merchants or professional service providers. They use fake websites, false entitlements and other forms of subterfuge to try and trick you with their e-scams. If you fall foul of a scam like this, we’ll refund you the amounts you paid using your KBC Internet Protection Insurance after being deceived.

Note that we only pay refunds in cases of e-scams pretending to be government agencies, merchants or professional service providers from the EU that involve payments made to a bank account with an EU IBAN.

If you’re the victim of e-fraud where criminals manage to misuse your KBC Brussels Current Account to make online payments without your authorisation, we’ll refund you the money that has been defrauded from you in most cases. Amounts we don’t refund may be covered by KBC Internet Protection Insurance.

What’s not insured?

  • Payments on auction websites and online marketplaces where private individuals can sell things like second-hand furniture and vintage clothing 
  • Scams involving online investments in things like cryptocurrencies, diamonds and gold
  • Telephone fraud like tech support scams where scammers claim to be technical support staff from computer companies like Microsoft to try and steal your online banking credentials
  • Dating site or social media scams that play on your emotions to trick you into sending scammers money
  • Payments in connection with illegal practices or for counterfeit goods (such as payments for drugs or guns), including counterfeit goods that you thought were authentic when you bought them from a genuine website

2. Online identity theft

What can you expect?

Scammers sometimes manage to steal your identification or authentication details online. They can then misuse personal details like your name, address, national register number, e-mail address and passwords online. If you have KBC Internet Protection Insurance, we’ll compensate you for the financial loss you suffer as a result of this type of identity theft.


What’s not insured?

  • Misuse of your credit cards (you’ll need to contact your credit card company)
  • Identity theft committed before you took out the insurance, even if you only become aware of loss or damage afterwards

3. Online reputation damage

What can you expect?

Someone could accuse you of something online that affects or damages your reputation. This is considered libellous, also known as a defamation of character or slander. Sensitive or private information about you (like nude photos, videos or medical details) could also be unlawfully published on the Internet.
If you suffer damage to your reputation online as a result, we’ll appoint a specialist service provider who will advise you remotely and, if necessary, take action to try and prevent further damage.


What’s not insured?

  • Reputation damage suffered before you took out the insurance

Charges

This insurance costs 3 euros a month per account or 6 euros a month for all family accounts (see the conditions of cover for what we mean by family). What you pay for the insurance is debited monthly from the KBC Brussels Current Account you specified when taking out this insurance.

For one account you pay 36 euros a year (32.95 euros + 3.05 euros in tax). This amount includes acquisition costs (estimated at 11.34 euros) and administration charges (estimated at 2.39 euros).

For all family accounts you pay 72 euros a year (65.90 euros + 6.10 euros in tax). This amount includes acquisition costs (estimated at 22.67 euros) and administration charges (estimated at 4.79 euros).

It's important to remember that, if you intend to compare a number of insurance policies, you cannot just compare their estimated costs and charges with each other. You have to take other factors into consideration too, such as the scope of the cover, the amount of any deductibles and the exclusion clauses.

The above amounts give a better idea of the portion of the premium used for covering the risk described in the insurance policy. It is indeed so that, after the taxes, acquisition costs and administration charges have been deducted, the rest of the premium comprises the portion of the premium applied to performing the contractually stipulated services and costs other than those referred to above (i.e. including the combined and shared costs involved in claims and their management).
These estimates are based on figures from the insurance company's most recent accounting period, as approved by its general meeting of shareholders.

Things you also need to know

  • If you report damage in an e-mail, be sure not to include sensitive information in it. Wait instead until KBC Brussels contacts you.
  • Belgian law applies to this product.
  • Account holders can take out or cancel KBC Internet Protection Insurance at any time.
  • If you have a complaint about the conditions of cover, please contact your KBC Brussels Bank branch or KBC Complaints Management, Brusselsesteenweg 100, 3000 Leuven, complaints@kbc.be. If you cannot find a suitable solution, you can contact the Belgian insurance industry’s ombudsman service: Ombudsman van de Verzekeringen, de Meeûssquare 35, 1000 Brussels, www.ombudsman-insurance.be. This does not affect your legal rights. Submit any complaints you may have to complaints@kbc.be, tel. 016 43 25 94 and/or by e-mail to ombudsman@ombudsfin.be.
  • KBC Internet Protection Insurance is a product of KBC Insurance NV – Professor Roger Van Overstraetenplein 2 – 3000 Leuven – Belgium
    VAT BE 0403.552.563 – RLP Leuven – IBAN BE43 7300 0420 0601 – BIC KREDBEBB
    Company licensed by the National Bank of Belgium, de Berlaimontlaan 14, 1000 Brussels, Belgium, for all classes of insurance under code 0014 (Royal Decree of 4 July 1979, Belgian Official Gazette of 14 July 1979).
    Member of the KBC Group
  • KBC Bank holds this insurance with KBC Insurance. To be covered by it, you need to have signed up to and paid for it.
  • KBC Internet Protection Insurance is a form of financial loss insurance.

Learn more

Your intermediary: KBC Brussels, part of KBC Bank NV – Havenlaan 2 – 1080 Brussels – Belgium
VAT BE 0462.920.226 – RLP Brussels – IBAN BE98 7300 0000 0083 – BIC KREDBEBB – FSMA 026256 A, tied agent of KBC Insurance NV
Member of the KBC Group

You can no longer take out KBC Internet Protection Insurance, as it is not being sold anymore. If you want to protect yourself against the consequences of cybercrime, check out KBC CyberSecure Insurance instead.

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