"
I am contacting you after a computer seizure of cyber-infiltration to inform you that you are the subject of legal proceedings
".
Fake emails that look like official messages - the logos of the Ministry of the Interior and Europol appear at the top of the message - are currently circulating on the internet.
They make ordinary citizens believe that they are being prosecuted for child pornography, pedophilia, exhibitionism, cyberpornography or even sex trafficking.
Read also Online scams have exploded since confinement
Tristan Mendès France, expert in social networks, shared on Monday, October 19 one of these fake emails on his Twitter account.
The message in question suggests a signature by the director general of the national gendarmerie and adopts a threatening tone, indicating that the media will disseminate information on the people concerned.
Most of the fake emails that circulate ask recipients to respond by giving personal information: names, contact details, bank details, etc.
The gendarmerie warns
On their Facebook account, some gendarmeries - like that of Calvados - warn. “
More and more false emails. Beware of scams!
", Writes the gendarmerie of Calvados, which specifies receiving many messages from people"
distraught
"or"
frightened
". “
The national gendarmerie will never ask you to explain yourself by email. Messages from addresses that do not end with "gendarmerie [.] Interieur [.] Gouv [.] Fr" are false,
"she specifies.
What should I do if I receive such an email?
“
1. Do not respond and do not pass on any personal data.
2. Do not pass the message on to other people.
3. If you receive such messages, you can report them either by making a complaint to a brigade or police station, or on the internet via the Pharos platform or the Signal Spam platform
, ”advises the Calvados gendarmerie.