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Real estate loan: investigation into a scam targeting your personal contribution
Real estate loan: investigation into a scam targeting your personal contribution
(THE EYE OF 20 HOURS / FRANCE 2)
Become an owner. An important step in the lives of many French people. But with interest rates rising, finding a property can sometimes turn into a nightmare. On the Internet and on the telephone, fake professionals play on the credulity of certain loan candidates to scam them. Real estate loan fraud, a booming scam.
It was the project of a lifetime. A few months ago, Victoria, 27, and her partner just found the house of their dreams in the North of France. The couple has 26,000 euros in savings. They will have to borrow. And it’s Sabine, Victoria’s mother, who then begins researching credit. She remembers : “I type on Google real estate loan simulation. And on the first page, I come across Meilleurtaux.com. I click on the site and start entering all the information relating to Victoria’s project. Two days later, I received a call from a gentleman who introduced himself as a financial advisor to Hello Bank. He does all the calculations and the offer seems interesting to me”.
To finalize obtaining the credit, the bank advisor asks them to pay the 26,000 euros deposit into an account supposed to guarantee the loan, opened by the scammer in the name of his victim. But a few days before signing with the notary, no more news from the advisor. Worried, Victoria’s mother then contacted Hello Bank customer service. “They tell me very quickly: you are the victim of a scam, we know about it. We have several cases like yours. And I hang up. I do not dare believe it. The ground is slipping away from under my feet.”
The 26,000 euros contribution has disappeared from the account.
“Everything collapsed, it was very violent,” says Victoria. “Savings of a lifetime. She had opened a PEL, she had paid all her student salaries there. adds his mother.
Hello Bank filed a complaint for forgery, use of forgery and identity theft.
Like Victoria, the victims of this scam number in the hundreds of thousands. Many say they have been trapped by a false online credit simulation on fake sites resembling that of Meilleurtaux.com.
Guillaume Autier, president of Meilleurtaux recognizes him : “We, like other companies, notice several times a week that fake sites have been created which are generally quite well done and use the color codes and images of our brand. We want to denounce this.”
The total damage to the victims would amount to more than a billion euros, according to Meilleurtaux. The broker recognizes that with the increase in credit rates over the past 3 years, scams are exploding.
A finding corroborated by the bank and insurance supervisor, the ACPR. In addition to the 1,262 fraudulent sites already listed in 2023, it has just added 346 to its blacklist.
Who are these scammers who brag about their winnings on social media? What is their modus operandi? We have infiltrated the world of encrypted messaging. Virtual fraud supermarket: personal data and bank card numbers for sale, hacking software and even training to become a perfect crook. We were able to contact one of them. For 150 euros, here is what he offers us: “I’m going to explain to you how to have good eloquence, what terms to use. For example, how you are going to initiate the conversation, how you are going to validate payments, etc.” We will not follow up.
The scammers also provide a turnkey tutorial to pose as bankers and fool their victims.
Faced with the proliferation of these scams, more and more victims are complaining of not being reimbursed by their bank despite filing complaints. Because very often, banks accuse victims of negligence. The Bank of France specifies: “The fraud scheme seems to show that it is the bank customer who initiated the transfers”.
In this context, a consumer association filed a complaint against around ten banks. Today, one in six victims would not be reimbursed for their losses.
AMONG OUR SOURCES:
What is the ACPR, the Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority?
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