4 misconceptions about fraud

43,208 individual frauds, out of a batch of 35.6 million checks: here are two of the figures put forward by the National Family Allowance Fund on the occasion of its annual report. The average damage is 7162 euros. CAF insists: Only 1% of controls highlight situations of fraud. And she points to four received ideas that she chooses to detail this year.

1. The control policy consists solely of combating fraud

FAKE, thunders the CAF, in its annual report on the fight against fraud in the family branch. The institution thus affirms that the controls are used to guarantee the payment of the just right, in one direction as in the other. In 2021, inspections led to the payment of 328.6 million euros for reminders, that is to say sums owed by the Caf for rights not claimed by the recipients. For example, a beneficiary of the RSA who could apply for housing assistance and did not do so, not knowing that he was entitled to it.

Faced with these 330 million euros in reminders, it must nevertheless also be pointed out that CAF is claiming 894 million euros in undue payments from beneficiaries, that is to say reimbursement by recipients of sums overpaid.

2. Nothing can be done against phishing attempts, which can lead to data theft

False, again, insists the CAF in its annual file. While she readily acknowledges that the beneficiaries are potential targets, via emails or text messages copying those sent by the CAFs, she insists on the communication and warnings that she provides throughout the year, on Caf.fr and its mobile app. More concretely, three actions are put forward. The first: since 2022, [les CAF] have also secured the process of changing bank details, with the sending of an SMS to the user to validate his change. The second: the Cafs identify inconsistencies in the data during checks, and carry out investigations into fraudulent bank accounts. The third: they regularly exchange their descriptions with partners in the social sphere and the police.

3. With the right of error, anyone can say they made a mistake and they don’t have to reimburse anything

The institution recalls the principle of the right to error which provides that any user, in good faith, can be mistaken in his administrative procedures. BUT… he must reimburse the sums received in excess.

4. Fraudsters are not all punished

False, again, insists the CAF: When the CAF has demonstrated that the beneficiary intended to defraud, this one is systematically sanctioned. The institution specifies that a national scale exists for individual fraudsters, with a graduated system depending on the fraud: warning, financial penalty in addition to reimbursement of sums wrongly paid, filing of a complaint in court. In 2021, CAF announces 26,117 penalties, for a total amount of 17.95 million euros, i.e. an average amount of 688 euros and 2,357 prosecutions.

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