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Neobanks, a new Eldorado for crooks?
Neobanks, a new Eldorado for crooks? – (THE EYE OF 20 HOURS / FRANCE 2)
Since the rise of online banking, financial scams have never been so numerous. Have neobanks, in spite of themselves, become an El Dorado for crooks of all kinds? How do big names in finance end up associated with scams? “The Eye of the 8 p.m.” wanted to understand.
Vincent Baressi thought he would make incredible profits. A few months ago, a so-called advisor suggested he invest on a platform that was supposed to make him make a lot of money. The scam is well done, every day, the retiree can even check the progress of his earnings on the internet.
“Between October 5 and December 7, I had earned 4,084 euros, until the day you log in and the account is deactivated.”
Vincent Baressi, victim of financial scamAt “The Eye of the 8 p.m.”
In the space of two months, the retiree made two payments into an account hosted by an establishment he does not know, called Treezor.
Treezor is not behind the scam. It is a monetary establishment approved by the banking authority – the ACPR – which notably provides payment solutions to around a hundred neobanks which do not have approval. Iban, RIB, enough to allow them to receive funds from any client legally.
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Presented as the nugget of finance, Treezor is however indirectly, and to its detriment, associated with dozens of scams and claims to raise awareness among its customers of the risk of fraud.
“In the event of fraud, it is essential to react quickly with your bank as well as by filing a complaint in order to be able (…) to recover the funds.”
Treezor GroupAt “The Eye of the 8 p.m.”
Many scammers use Treezor
How ? In particular, by creating fictitious companies to open accounts and receive funds. To set up their scams, they do not hesitate to use stolen identity papers.
This is what happened to this victim we found. For three years, a scammer has been using a copy of his ID card to open online accounts. One of them is hosted by Treezor.
“He has already opened three accounts with my identity card which is no longer valid. Each time they are online banks.”
A victim of identity theftAt “The Eye of the 8 p.m.”
In 40% of financial scams, scammers impersonate someone. Since the explosion of 100% digital banks, the amount of transfer fraud has quadrupled in five years, going from 78 million in 2017 to 313 million in 2022.
We interviewed a lawyer who specializes in these financial scams. In Arnaud Delomel’s office, more than 600 files concern summons from banks for fraud. According to him, Treezor today seems to be one of the banks preferred by scammers for “plume” their victims.
“For the Treezor bank, we have nearly fifty fraudulent Ibans. We call it ‘the scam supermarket’ and we will have everything and anything.”
Arnaud Delomel, financial lawyerAt “The Eye of the 8 p.m.”
Structures that most of the time do not exist, to sell wine, crypto-currencies, parking spaces.
“Tens of thousands of euros will arrive quickly in these accounts and will leave just as quickly in countries which will not collaborate. Treezor is criticized for not identifying these suspicious movements which do not correspond to anything.”
Arnaud Delomel, financial lawyerAt “The Eye of the 8 p.m.”
For its part, the establishment says it cooperates in the fight against fraud, in close collaboration with the authorities.
“Treezor strives to provide robust controls to protect its enterprise customers and end users.”
Treezor GroupAt “The Eye of the 8 p.m.”
As for the banking authority, the ACPR, it recognizes certain vulnerabilities and claims to carry out regular checks in online establishments. The amount of financial scams is estimated at 500 million euros each year.
AMONG OUR SOURCES