The Netherlands has official registers for doctors, notaries, financial advisers, garages and every business. Most expats don't know they exist. Pick who you're dealing with, and you'll see which register to check, how, and what to look for.
Renting a home, buying a car, a job offer, or a call from "the tax office"? Answer a few questions for a scam and red-flag check, with a risk rating and what to do next.
You don't need to log in. We don't check or recommend any business ourselves: the registers do.
23 registers and checks, for 24 kinds of provider:
8 of them are required by law. Every link checked on 30 October 2026.
Based on the official Dutch registers for 2026. Not affiliated with the Dutch government or the bodies that keep the registers. The register itself is the official record.
The registers are kept by the government and the professional bodies, and they decide who is listed. We checked every link on 30 October 2026. Being in a register doesn't guarantee good work, and not being in a voluntary one doesn't make a business dishonest. The risk rating only reflects your answers, not the business itself.
A doctor without a BIG registration, a mortgage adviser without an AFM licence or a garage doing an APK without RDW recognition breaks the law. Trade associations such as BOVAG or the NVM are voluntary: membership is a good sign, but many honest businesses aren't members.
Scammers copy the names, logos and KvK numbers of real businesses. Find the register, the website and the phone number yourself, not through a link or number they sent you, and check that the details match.
A bank account with no fraud reports may just be new. A business in the KvK register may still do poor work. Use the registers to rule people out, then compare quotes and get the price in writing.
Registers and links checked on 30 October 2026. Every register card links to the official source.
Search its name or KvK number in the KvK Business Register (Handelsregister) on kvk.nl. Every business in the Netherlands has to be registered, and must show its KvK number on its website, quotes and invoices. Check that the name and address match what they told you, and that the business hasn't been deregistered.
Search their name and profession, or their BIG number, in the BIG register (english.bigregister.nl). Doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, physiotherapists, midwives, psychotherapists and health care psychologists must be registered to use their title. The register also shows a specialism, and whether a disciplinary measure applies.
A mortgage or insurance adviser needs a licence from the AFM, or must work for a firm that has one. Search the firm in the AFM register of financial service providers and check that the licence covers mortgages. Then search the name in the AFM warning list. Licensed advisers must also be members of Kifid, the financial complaints institute.
No. Since 2001 anyone can call themselves a makelaar. Membership of the NVM or Vastgoed Nederland (the association that VBO and VastgoedPRO merged into) means a code of conduct and a complaints procedure. A notary, by contrast, is appointed by the Crown, and the title notaris is protected.
The classic signs: the landlord is abroad and can't show the home, wants a deposit before a viewing, or offers to send the keys by post. Never pay before you've seen the home in person and signed a contract. For €3.70 you can order the owner's name from the Kadaster and compare it with the landlord's. Since 1 July 2023, a deposit may be at most two months' basic rent.
No. The Dutch tax office never sends direct payment requests and never asks you to pay through a link. Real assessments come by letter and are in Mijn Belastingdienst. If you're not sure, hang up and call the BelastingTelefoon yourself on 0800 0543, or +31 555 385 385 from abroad.
Yes. The Dutch police's "Check de (ver)koper" shows whether people have reported fraud with a bank account number, phone number, email address or website. No result doesn't mean it's safe: it only means nobody has reported it yet.
No. We point you to the official registers, kept by the government and the professional bodies, and explain how to read them. We checked every link on 30 October 2026. The scam check rates the answers you give, not the business itself.
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