The Hague Deploys Special Ambassadors to Tackle Digital Crime

The Hague is going to deploy special ambassadors to tackle digital crime in the neighbourhood. Mayor Jan van Zanen, deputy mayor Saskia Bruines and police chief Paul van Musscher signed the 'Digital Safety in the Neighbourhood' convenant on 5 July. This collaboration agreement states, among other things, that residents and entrepreneurs will volunteer to become 'digital ambassadors' in order to make their neighbourhoods more digitally resilient.

According to the municipality and the police, it is important for the neighbourhood to be more resilient to digital criminals, especially now that this form of crime is on the rise. Residents therefore will volunteer to work as digital ambassadors. They give fellow residents tips on how to better protect themselves online against, for example, helpdesk fraud in the banking sector or 'friend-in-need' fraud. In this way, more people become aware of the risks and know better what to do', says deputy mayor Bruines. 

Mayor Van Zanen continued: The best way to tackle digitised crime is to prevent it from happening'. Police chief Van Musscher says: 'The deployment of digital ambassadors can certainly help to raise awareness of the risks of this form of crime and how to tackle it.

No cyber experts

The digital ambassadors do not have to be cyber experts, but they do receive training in digital safety, so that they can inform the neighbourhood well prepared. For example, professionals from the police unit The Hague, Digital Trust Center, ECP Platform voor de Informatie Samenleving, Fraudehelpdesk and veiligbankieren.nl are involved. 

With this knowledge, the ambassadors undertake actions to inform their neighbourhood, for example by distributing flyers, setting up information sessions for neighbourhood residents or placing an article in the neighbourhood newspaper. 

Join the training

On 7 July, a second training (in a series of three) will take place, during which the Fraudehelpdesk, Digital Trust Center and Betaalvereniging Nederland (Dutch Payments Association) will visit to teach the ambassadors more about cybercrime and especially what you can do to better protect yourself online. You can watch the training here at 19.00h.

Source: NOS