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Coronavirus: the growing danger of financial scams

Periods of crises are often conducive to the proliferation of scams. That of the coronavirus is no exception to the rule. The Prudential Control and Resolution Authority (ACPR) and the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) on Thursday called on the public to “exercise the utmost vigilance in the face of the risk of scams in the context of the epidemic of covid-19 and the downturn in the financial markets, ”in a press release.

These offers can take various forms ranging from an “investment presented as a safe haven”, to attractive “fake banking or insurance products” combining high returns, absence of risk and speed of subscription. It may also involve investments in companies “supposed to profit from the epidemic and see their valuation increase”.

“When it comes to financial scams, there is a lot of inertia before the saver realizes that he has been a victim. We are therefore in prevention, ”explains Claire Castanet of the AMF. For the moment, there are no figures yet on fraud linked to the coronavirus crisis, but regulators have, by experience, reinforced their vigilance. The ACPR specifies that a “small team dedicated to monitoring the Internet in cooperation with the AMF” has been set up.

Safe haven values

“Since the beginning of last year, we have observed a professionalization of crooks with a great ability to surf the news,” says Claire Castanet. We see the emergence of fraudulent offers playing on the concept of safe haven, like gold, with keywords that allow them to go up well in the search engines.

Last week, the AMF challenged the public against the proliferation of fraudulent offers of investments in whiskey. Like gold, spirits and wine are presented as refuge and pleasure values. Scams had also multiplied when the Française des jeux went public last fall.

One billion euros

In reality, these scams most often aim to collect personal data – bank cards or bank identifiers, information on current investments and assets – which will subsequently allow fraudsters to make remote purchases or even usurpation of identity.

In total, these financial scams cost French individuals around one billion euros over two years, according to regulators. In 2019, 1,300 people approached the AMF for this type of scam, for a total declared amount of 70 million euros. The median is 15,000 euros. And it is often a tragedy. “It is sometimes all the savings of a home that disappear, even an entire legacy,” laments Claire Castanet.

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