He thought about talking to his bank advisor, but he was a scammer. This is Isabelle, a woman who was the victim of a scam by a fake bank advisor. When his phone rang and showed his bank advisor’s number, he wasn’t suspicious.
The scammer managed to steal the identity of his online bank, Fortuneo, through phishing, a very popular technique among scammers. Specifically, he used software that displayed Fortuneo’s real number to prevent her from becoming suspicious.
10,600 euros to be reimbursed
After this exchange, Isabelle did not immediately realize that she had been trapped. “We will do everything possible to ensure it,” the scammer assured him, posing as a Fortnueo advisor, warning him against scams. By convincing the victim to validate the transfers, he managed to embezzle 15,000 euros. Following the advice of her bank, Isabelle filed a claim, but has since fought to get a refund.
To obtain a refund, Isabelle only had telephone conversations with Fortuneo’s advisors. She also received emails. In the last email, the bank told him that it refused to refund him even though it acknowledged that he had been the victim of a scam by someone who had stolen his identity, he says.
After having initiated legal proceedings, he hopes to obtain reimbursement, which could happen thanks to a recent decision by the Court of Cassation. In another case that confronted the BNP Paribas bank with a victim of a scam by a false bank advisor, it ordered the former to reimburse its client, considering that the latter had not committed “gross negligence” (a necessary condition for “a bank not to be obligated to reimburse the victim).
According to the court, by using the identity theft method and showing the bank’s real number, the fraudster “resorted to maneuvers designed” to give him confidence and reduce his surveillance.
Source: BFM TV
