Individuals are currently the victims of an SMS scam attempt. To get their bank details, the scammers encourage them to connect to a site similar to a government site to get them to purchase the Crit’Air sticker.
The internet scams they continue to multiply, like the parcel scam or the vocational training account. And every day, scammers compete in imagination to create new schemes to defraud people.
The latest is the scam Crit’air vignette, this sticker provided by the government to be affixed to the windshield of your vehicle, your two-wheeled vehicle or any other motor vehicle such as heavy vehicles, utilities, aiming to classify them from 1 to 5, at least as polluting as possible. So beware. We explain to you.
What is the Crit’Air adhesive?
As soon as you want to drive in a low-emission mobility area, your vehicle must have the certificate.
It is also necessary to have it when the prefect requests it, introducing differentiated traffic on the occasion of pollution peaks.
We remind you that the Crit’Air sticker is mandatory for travel mobility in low-emission zones (ZFE-m). Some cities such as Paris, Grenoble or Toulouse have been affected for several months. The cities of Marseille, Lyon and Rouen in particular are also on September 1st.
The process
In the last few weeks you may have received this SMS saying: “Our agents found that you did not have the regulatory sticker, please retrieve it via: https://critair-circulation.fr”. Website Numbers he explains it.
This is how the criminals throw the hook hoping you will bite it. Because the message appears to come from the body delivering the Crit’Air vignette. At first glance, when you click on the link, you go to what looks like an official website of the state with its white background, the badge of the French Republic and the mention of legal texts. The perfect illusion.
Except it’s wrong. In addition, the home page of the Ministry of Ecology immediately announces: “Beware of scams: the official Crit’Air website of the ministry does not send text messages to users to buy cartoons. Be vigilant and make sure you are active the correct address of the official website, i.e. www.certificat-air.gouv.fr“.
Extract personal and banking data
The scam aims at extract personal and banking information the victims. As detailed 20 minutesthe victims arrive on a very well imitated platform where they are asked to pay the sum of 2.95 euros to receive the Crit’Air badge.
Obviously, the goal of the scam is not to steal this small amount but rather to steal personal information for banking and stealing large sums of money or paying for purchases in your name.
Many are the victims of this new type of scam. They will not receive any stickers or a fake Crit’Air sticker which will result in a real fine in case of an inspection.
How to get your sticker?
It’s on the official website of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and only that gets its Crit’Air sticker. is certificate-air.gouv.fr. As the government points out, “the price of the Crit’Air sticker is € 3.70 (€ 3.11 + € 0.59 postage) for a shipment to France”.
How to protect yourself?
If in doubt, you can always ask the Air Quality Certificate Issuance Service for advice by telephone on 0800 97 00 33 (Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 17:00, free call from landline.
The ministry will never notify you via SMS for your sticker. Remember to look at the URL of the site. The official site necessarily ends with gouv.fr.
