The number of reported frauds has increased by 15% in two years. False investments, loans or savings that are taking place more and more on Facebook, Tik Tok or Snapchat and are targeting more and more young people.
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During the lockdowns linked to the Covid-19 epidemic, the French put more money aside, and they also spent more time on the internet. It is therefore quite logical that the crooks have invested the social networks Facebook, Tik Tok, Instagram or Snapchat. The authorities received 15% more reports for financial scams this year compared to 2019 with an estimated loss of 500 million euros per year. And the novelty is to go through influencers, celebrities who advertise on their behalf.
Reality star Nabilla Benattia, for example, was convicted last summer for promoting fraudulent trading education. A method that works very well notes Virginie Beaumeunier, at the head of the General Directorate for the Repression of Fraud (DGCCRF): “Influencers, indeed, who have the ability to give the impression of a community, of proximity to the consumer, will reassure the consumer and consequently, he will be less suspicious and therefore will believe, obviously, his circle of friends or its community more easily than a simple advertisement “.
>>> Professional influencers: the great mix of genres.
And thanks to social networks, crooks can target many more potential customers but also new populations, younger and more modest. Targets to whom we sell easy money, with shocking slogans like “to become a millionaire before 30 years”, all this while surfing on the victims’ mistrust of banks and institutions. These victims then lose their money but not only explains the public prosecutor of Paris, Laure Beccuau: “These are truly lifelong savings. Savings that might make it possible to build a house, to help her children, her grandchildren. Sometimes it is couple problems that arise when the wife finds out that the husband has invested in a product that will earn nothing.
“The financial scam, like any scam, is very attractive, but it can have catastrophic effects on daily life.”
Laure Beccuau, public prosecutor of Paristo franceinfo
Because the victims often lose a lot of money: 40,000 euros on average, according to the financial markets authority.