After a year 2020 which has seen a number of financial scams relating to the Covid-19 pandemic flourish, financial sector regulators once again insisted on Wednesday on the necessary vigilance in the face of any attractive offer.
Read also: Coronavirus: financial scams on the internet are increasing
This recall follows several warnings issued last year and a communication campaign disseminated in particular on social networks. Faced with "
an industrialization of the phenomenon of scams
", "
it is important to deploy prevention messages for all savers
", underlined Claire Castanet, in charge of the protection of savers at the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), during a joint press conference with the Prudential Control and Resolution Authority (ACPR).
This subject is considered all the more important since the sums are in great majority definitely lost for the victims.
In 2020, the two authorities added nearly 1,200 sites or entities to their “
black lists
”, compared to around 500 in 2019. In total, the ACPR and the AMF registered nearly 2,500 names on one of these lists. , accessible to the public.
To read also: Sports betting: the "tipsters", dream merchants at the limit of legality
With the Covid-19 pandemic, new scams have appeared, with, for example, fake jackpots for caregivers.
Faced with the fear of the future, some scams have offered false savings accounts, surfing on guarantees and while the Livret A has experienced a record collection.
"
The crooks follow the news day by day,
" warned Dominique Laboureix, secretary general of the ACPR.
1 billion euros stolen over two years
Scams around bogus financial investments, which promise huge returns, can have dramatic consequences, with losses estimated on average at 40,000 euros.
In 2020, the proposal to invest in fictitious airport parking lots, with crooks taking over big names in the construction industry, did "a
lot of harm
", explained Ms. Castanet.
“
Unfortunately, we thought the wave was over, but we still have, in 2021, a number of claims on this plan
,” she continued.
For the moment, no figures are known as to the total number of victims.
In 2019, an investigation estimated that around one billion euros had been stolen over two years.
