“It’s everyday crime, mass crime”, launches Colonel Gervais who commands the research section of the Pau gendarmerie. In 2021, the gendarmes noted 1625 offenses in the Pyrénées-Atlantiquescompared to 1050 in 2017. In four years, there have been on average around 150 additional infringements. “And again these figures are understated because not all the people who are victims of these scams file a complaint”, specifies the colonel. To fight against this form of delinquency, a partnership has just been signed between the Pyrénées-Atlantiques gendarmerie and the local branch of the consumer association UFC Que Choisir.
Varied but identified operating methods
The rise of online commerce, boosted by the health crisis, has not helped matters, on the contrary. Three quarters of scams are now done on the internet. There is phishing which consists in recovering personal information about an Internet user such as bank details, but also false advertisements and real advertisements which do not follow up, i.e. the consumer pays but never receives his order.
The scammers are real professionals of the tchache – colonel Gervais
On the other side of the screen, the networks of scammers are increasingly structured. “In many cases there is a real organization of work. There are those who recover the data, those who make the scenarios, those who create the sites, and those who call”, explains Colonel Gervais. The gendarme even compares them to companies “with about ten people.” The investigations are therefore complex and the rate of elucidation is low, in particular because the scammers (and the money) are sometimes found beyond French or even European borders.
Tips to avoid being scammed online
To fight against cyber-fraud, the gendarmes therefore have specialized investigators, they train and train the young gendarmes still in school, but above all they accentuate prevention. “You have to doubt everything. You don’t sign a blank check so you don’t click blindly”, insists Colonel Bartoli, head of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques gendarmerie group. So concretely here are some tips to avoid falling into the traps of the internet.
- NEVER give bank details by email or phone
- Go to recognized sites and avoid alternative websites
- Beware of very tempting offers
- Never reply to an e-mail from which the source is not known, especially when it asks for bank details
- If in doubt: go to sites like cybermalveillance.gouv.fr
And above all: you have to file a complaint when you are the victim of a scam, regardless of the amount. “There’s No Shame”, according to the police. And if this complaint can be filed within 72 hours, that’s better because it makes it easier to block international fund transfers.