VIDEO. CPF, financial investments, food supplements… When the DGCCRF investigates scams promoted by influencers

For two years, around fifty fraud prevention agents have been dedicated to online checks. They monitor the content of 150,000 influencers.

On social networks, scams are flourishing, relayed by those we now call “influ-thieves”. Since June 2023, a new law regulates the commercial influence sector. After 300 checks in 2022 and 2023, the DGCCRF teams made an initial assessment: one in two influencers was not in compliance.

“Thanks to this incredible investment, your income is guaranteed for life !” This kind of shocking, sometimes misleading phrase is easy to find on social networks. So, for months, the authorities have been trying to clean up. “What we most often see is the fact that the influencer is paid to promote a product or service, and that they do not indicate it”explains Géraldine Mille, head of the national investigations service of the DGCCRF.

Some subjects in the viewfinder

With around 150,000 content creators to monitor, for around fifty versatile investigators in Paris or in the region, there is no question of DGCCRF agents scrolling randomly. Géraldine Mille details the practices or subjects that particularly attract the attention of agents: “On the CPF (the Professional Training Account) or financial products. We will also check the public to which they are aimed, whether it is a particularly vulnerable public or not.” The DGCCRF can also be alerted by individuals, via the signal-conso.gouv.fr site or by partner authorities.

Once the influencer is targeted, the investigative work begins. And agents have the option of using an assumed identity.

“The idea is to put yourself in the consumer’s place and know what commercial message will be received.”

Geraldine Mille

at franceinfo

“The investigation starts digitally but then continues physically.”says the head of the national investigations service of the DGCCRF. To move forward, investigators then rely on the collection of documents, such as invoices, and the hearing of the professionals concerned or their agency. This work can take several months.

Even in Dubai there can be prosecutions

Once the procedure is completed, the consequences depend on the seriousness of the alleged acts, ranging from a simple educational warning to referral to the public prosecutor. “Police custody has already been ordered, criminal seizures as well. In the field of CPF or sports prognosis”. But some of these influencers live abroad, notably in Dubai.

This is not a problem for Marie Suderie, spokesperson for the DGCCRF: “A commercial practice can be prosecuted if it is misleading as long as it affects a French consumer, regardless of the location of the professional.” But this lengthens procedures which can already last several months

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You can report suspicious content on the signal-conso online platform:

https://signal.conso.gouv.fr/fr