The ACPR, the French financial services watchdog, said on Thursday that it had included in its “blacklist” last year 1,262 sites or entities that offer financial products without authorization, with losses that for victims reached tens or even dozens of hundreds of thousands of euros.
“Almost all” fraudulent offers “refer to false credits or savings accounts and, in more than 53% of them, usurp the identity of an establishment or financial intermediary duly authorized to market such products,” explains the Control and Financial Authority. Prudential Resolution (ACPR) in a press release.
The list also refers to paid services or insurance contracts.
Among the files received by the ACPR in 2023, the average loss observed due to false brochures amounts to 93,000 euros, “even one file is worth 1 million euros,” a spokesperson told AFP.
Regarding false credits, the average loss is 13,000 euros, but it can be higher in certain files, up to 60,000 euros last year.
The victims who registered with the Authority “belonged to all socio-professional categories.”
These amounts have been increasing in recent years, as has the number of sites or entities registered on the “blacklist” and the proportion of usurpation of authorized professionals.
Increasing losses
Scammers have a large number of potential victims, because savings accounts and loans are everyday financial products, laments the ACPR. Victims, who are looking for a safe and profitable investment, feel confident due to its main characteristics: absence of risk of loss of capital and availability of funds.
The ACPR also warns savers this year about “the proliferation of false crowdfunding contracts that offer to invest in projects related to renewable energy, EHPAD, rooms in student residences or even in parking lots equipped with electric charging stations.”
In 2023, 46 fraudulent websites or emails were registered in this category, compared to 20 in 2022.
The ACPR, sometimes assisted by the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), regularly warns the general public against the increase in scams surrounding financial products.
Their blacklists can be consulted at this address.
Source: BFM TV
