“It is by being informed that we prevent problems,” says the general director of the French Banking Federation

The total amount of payment fraud will reach 1.2 billion euros in 2022.

“It is by being informed that we prevent problems”, said Saturday June 8 on franceinfo the general director of the French Banking Federation, Maya Atig, while a major awareness campaign was launched by the banks, the Ministry of the Economy and the Bank of France to alert on the risks of fraud and banking scams. The total amount of payment fraud will reach 1.2 billion euros in 2022.

“Not everyone is fooled, but it is by being informed that we prevent problems,” explains the general director of the French Banking Federation. Contrary to popular belief, older people are far from being the only ones to be targeted, “At 13 or 14 years old, you already have a quarter of children who say they have been the subject of an attempt by social networks and a third of them by SMS, so it is very widespread”.

She wants the involvement of all stakeholders, “mobile managers, telecoms, telephone designers, social network managers, all are concerned and we must alert more and more quickly to cut off the accounts that broadcast” this type of scam. “It’s a European issue,” she adds.

Maya Atig particularly warns about the “telephone theft”a scam technique where a person modifies the caller ID displayed on the called person’s phone, in order to hide their real identity. “Many people know how to recognize a poorly written email or a strange SMS, but on the other hand, when you are called with your bank number, and some people are not aware of these spoofing problems, they can be fooled. to have”. She insists, “a banker will never ask you for your code or identifier information, so as soon as you have a doubt, hang up, and too bad if you are afraid of being rude, your banker will not be angry with you for suspecting it, if it’s really him who’s calling you.”

Another obstacle to the fight against these scams is the shame of those scammed. When you are a victim, “you have to report yourself, you have to file a complaint, and report the matter to the bank by giving as much information as possible because this can also help avoid these problems with other customers”, she also specifies that in “8 to 9 cases out of ten”, victims can get reimbursement.