Header, stamp, signature, everything looks official. However, the emails received by many people since 2021 have nothing to do with the gendarmerie. It is actually a scam that accuses recipients of pedophilia or child pornography.
The goal of scammers is to recover money. To do this, they propose in their false accusation emails to pay a fine to end the persecution. “You pay for that and there’s nothing left,” sums up Geoffroy Delpit.
19 people arrested
This scam takes advantage of the lack of knowledge of the victims. Criminal lawyer Delphine Meillet specializes in cybercrime. According to her, “there is no particular profile of people who pay.
On June 22, 19 people were arrested in France as part of a joint investigation by the Central Office for the Fight against Cybercrime, the Versailles investigation section and the Nice Investigation Brigade and CyberGend. They are linked to money laundering activities collected through these fake emails.
In case of doubt, it is advisable not to reply to dubious emails and go to a gendarmerie or police station.
Source: BFM TV
