Two years ago, Alexandre Vallet, a 49-year-old engineer, received an inheritance of 100,000 euros. For him, no doubt, investing in a nursing home room is the right investment: “I had hesitated to buy an apartment but it forced me to take out a loan so I looked on the Internet to see what it was possible to do…Ehpads seemed to be the most coherent…”
Initially, he invests 37,500 euros. At this price, he acquires a single room in an Ehpad in Portugal. For 4 months, this investment brings him 420 euros monthly. So when his so-called adviser suggested he invest again, in Belgium this time, he didn’t hesitate. “There, that gave me confidence and suddenly, I put the rest. In total, that’s an investment of 90,000 euros, something like that…” After having received a few monthly payments of 1200 euros, he no longer receives anything. His contact disappears, his money too.
What happened to Alexandre Vallet? It was actually him, unknowingly, who came into direct contact with the scammers. Like him, we sought to invest our money. We do an online search and land on a form that, at first glance, seems quite credible. Shortly after, we got back in touch. At the end of the line, our interlocutor claims to work for the Primonial group, a giant in wealth management. The discourse is well-rehearsed, reassuring… It’s hard not to believe it. “This investment product is a fixed income investment product. It’s similar to a traditional bank book and if in 8 months – 9 months you want to recover your funds, you can do it and you will not be penalized.”
A promised return of over 7% with guaranteed capital! The problem is that everything is wrong. And identity theft difficult to detect. The email addresses, the documents received, the name of the company…. Almost everything has been copied and pasted…. Victim of the scam, the Primonial group has also filed a complaint.
Stories like this, the consumer assistance association (ADC) has plenty of them. Its president, Guy Grandgirard no longer counts the files: “Currently we really have contacts. Every week we have requests for help. We have a big concern on the subject. We are on average at 50,000 euros in damage.”
For the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), these practices, while not new, have become more sophisticated. The gendarme of the sector alerts savers. For him, the information given by companies should not be taken at face value. Requests to transfer money to countries unrelated to the company or the state of residence of the investor should also alert.
In total, at least 10 million euros would have evaporated last year with these false placements in nursing homes. A figure greatly reduced according to the ADC, most of the victims not coming forward.