by Annaelle Montagne
published on
31 March 24 at 5:32 pm
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All this happened with just one click. In May 2023, Alix, a 27-year-old woman from Bordeaux, was looking for accommodation in the Paris region with the idea of leaving her shared accommodation.
After the “everything normal” announcement on LeBonCoin, she accepted To send your rental file For future visits.
But there were fraudsters behind the ad, who His banking identity was stolen Thanks to its documents to get a consumer loan of 9,000 euros. Today, it’s Alix Registered with Banque de France And fights to restore the situation.
All you need to scam
“I fell for him,” the young woman sighed. The ad that tricked her was written in true French, the price seemed to be in line with the market price.
When Bordelais asked for more photos via email, the (fake) owner didn’t hesitate to send her some. And then he asked Your rental file before the visit.
“More and more real landlords are doing this, so it doesn’t seem unusual to tenants,” explains Marie-Camille Eck, a lawyer who specializes in supporting victims of identity theft. Including Alix, who therefore decided to send him her file.
Among the documents received by the fraudster: A copy of ID card Of the girl, her last three Payslips and proof of address. Everything you need to open a bank account and take a loan. But Alix doesn’t know that.
After sending the file, she is not suspicious until the fake owner asks her to pay a deposit. There, she smells a scam and stops all communication, but it is already too late.
She finds a pot of roses
The young victim, in her misfortune, was lucky at one point: she did not move after all and was therefore able to receive, in September 2023, a letter from Setelem*, indicating that she was “late in repaying the credit and that the bank (it ) was going to be announced in irregular situation with the Banque de France.
The scammers actually opened a bank account in his name before subscribing A consumer loan of 9,000 euros Cetelem without verifying their identity.
“It’s very easy to open an account for someone else from your computer,” explains an expert lawyer. Bank checks are very basic. »
Filed with the Bank of France
“In these cases, it is necessary immediately File a complaint According to Inform the banking institution That you are a victim of fraud and try to close the account,” emphasizes Marie-Camille one.
Alix complied and once her complaint was forwarded to the bank, her file was able to be transferred to the fraud department – meaning she was not liable for late payments in her name.
But young Bordelaise is “still on file with the Bank of France”, given two monthly loan payments in his name remain unpaid. She can always use her own account and payment methods, But can’t get loan.
The record lasts for five years and cannot normally be changed unless the banking institution itself requests the Banque de France.
Any other credits to his name?
Another problem: Alix doesn’t even know for the moment, If fraudsters have taken out other credit, that for what amount. To find it, “you must have access to Ficoba”, the national file of bank accounts, which contains a valuable list of accounts opened in your name.
But to get access, another hurdle: “The CNIL must agree to withdraw Privacy From my data,” explains Alix, whose request has been “under study” for months.
While waiting to be finally “discharged” to the Banque de France, victims must Choose between plague and cholera. If they don’t want to take out the loan in the coming months, “we can ask the Banque de France to write the words “identification of error” on their file, which stays in the file,” he explains.E Eq.
This makes it impossible for scammers to open another account. But in this case, “banks generally refuse to accept that victims give loans”. So for people who want to get credit, “we try instead to remove registration altogether”… even if it means risking opening new accounts.
How to prevent this type of scam?
The most common bank identity theft situations are those that involve sending rental files.
To avoid scams, one tool remains: a simple one Watermark Added to the documentation, it specifies that it can only be used for rental purposes, preventing scammers from using it to open a bank account.
The government has also created a dedicated site, Filigree Facil, to add this digital border. “But on this site, you have to provide a thousand documents, which disappointed me,” recalls Alix. A tedious operation, certainly, but necessary to avoid Gale’s Hill What is involved in bank identity theft?
“In any case if you fall victim to this type of scam, while you do the right thing, We get out of itIt gives assuranceE Eq. And the sooner we handle the situation, the faster it gets resolved. So you should never hesitate to ask for help. »
*Setelem did not respond to our various requests
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