Brussels residents mistake mobility survey for scam

Some Brussels residents have mistaken an official mobility survey – which promises financial compensation for completion – as a scam.

The survey was sent via mail and said that those who complete it will receive €30, but participants are also being asked to provide a bank account number, which raised red flags for many who received it, RTBF reports.

Bruxelles Mobility’s survey asks recipients questions about their personal and professional travel habits.

The recipients are chosen at random: every week between November 2023 and November 2024, 400 names of Brussels residents aged six and over are randomly pulled from the national register.

“Most people (90%) don't reply, which is why we have to send out a lot of them so that the results are sufficiently representative,” Inge Paemen, spokesperson for Bruxelles Mobility, told RTBF.

The survey is conducted by Ipsos, a market research and polling company, which receives and analyses the results and sends out a conclusive report at the end.

Brussels Mobility wants to use the results to map the journeys made by Brusesls residents: how many times a day, by which mode of transport, for what reason and for what distance.

“The aim is to provide a basis for defining future regional mobility policy and analysing changes in behaviour,” said Paemen.

“People who agree to take part in the survey receive a contribution of €30 as a thank you, because this data is particularly valuable. The reason we ask for an account number is so that we can pay out this small reward, that’s all.”