Financial fraud skyrockets in France: Victims lose a minimum of €500 million per year

France has seen a surge in financial fraud and scams, with the country’s authorities claiming that the victims are losing a minimum of €500 million per year. However, despite the fact that the figure is quite massive, the country’s authoritative agencies have observed a drop in the number of complaints.

The phenomenon is attributed to the use of a civil compensation scheme or the poling of complaints.

Scams have blown up in France in 2024

The new figures and observations were announced in a report by the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF). the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR), and the Direction Générale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Répression des Fraudes (DGCCRF).

According to the agencies, there have been multiple prevalent financial scams in the nation, which included things like fake savings accounts, bogus loan offers, deceptive investments in green or cryptocurrency assets, as well as fraudulent insurance and payment services.

The agencies also noted that the victims have been losing massive amounts of money per person, going up to €69,000 from those who fell victim to false savings accounts during the first three quarters of 2024. Victims of fake loans scams have been losing significantly less, with an average of €19,000 per person.

As for the overall average loss for all types of scams, the figure stood at €29,000 at the end of November 2024. The report also highlighted that the scams involving cryptocurrency have started growing considerably since the second half of 2023, likely because the sector started seeing a major recovery in 2024, which encouraged investors to start buying more, and scammers to start targeting crypto users more.

Scammers are employing new tactics to trick their victims

To make matters worse, the authorities reported that fraudsters became extremely sophisticated in their methods when it comes to targeting possible victims. Specifically, many seem to be lured by the promise of guaranteed high-yield investments, with the appeal of “getting rich every time.” 

There is also a new tactic that emerged which has been named scam on scam. This is a method where scammers approach those who have already fallen victim to crypto fraud, promising that they can help them recover their lost funds, in exchange for a fee. They sometimes even impersonate representatives of regulators or other authorities in order to get their victims to lower their guard.

Scammers have also been known to contact their targets with claims that they wish to help them prevent alleged fraud on their accounts. They would then request sensitive information, such as login details, or ask them for transaction approvals. There is also a new variant of this where scammers send a courier to the victim’s home to collect a supposedly faulty bank card.

The authorities also warn that scammers have been using fake videos generated by the AI, featuring various celebrities. These videos were used to trick victims into making investments. One example of a scam that the Italian regulator recently took action against used the likeness of the country’s president and prime minister to promote financial scams.

With the surge of financial fraud, the French authorities have had their hands full. AMF and ACPR have blacklisted over 5,000 unauthorized market participants between January 1, 2022 and now. They also blocked 350 websites during this period. Meanwhile, the country’s law enforcement seized more than 645 million EUR in criminal assets since 2020. €268 million was seized in 2024 alone, which further shows that the severity of these attacks has been on the rise over the last few years.