A bogus lawyer offered to help the nonagen settle a dispute with the telephone operator Orange before extracting nearly 200,000 euros from her in 6 months. If the fraud was stopped thanks to a relative, the funds are lost and the banks claim to be incompetent.
A fraud of 200,000 euros. A 96-year-old woman voided a life insurance policy on bad telephone advice from malicious people.
It’s not that I feel guilty, but I foolishly trusted. I was too gullible, says the nonagnaire from Hauts-de-Seine to the Parisian. In six months, two organized crooks precisely extracted 194,000 euros from the former teacher by posing as bogus agents for the Orange telephone operator. To settle an unpaid dispute, they offered him the advice of a lawyer, in exchange for large sums of money.
During the summer of 2021, Eugnie retires in three times 38,500 euros to Crdit Mutuel, jackpot that she hands over the false lawyer, writes the daily. A ten transfers of 10,000 euros each to Belgium via an account opened at Societe Generale were also made as well as regular withdrawals, the content of which was delivered by hand to an accomplice of the lawyer, for a total of 25,000 euros.
It is finally when the victim plans to sell his apartment that a relative notices the scam and pushes him to file a complaint. We managed to save 60,000 euros, and Eugnie was placed under simple curatorship, whispers his friend Jean-Franois. However, the criminals are not identified and the complaint is dismissed in September 2022. The former teacher should never see her money again.
What role for banks?
And the banks in this case? How did they not intervene in the face of such movements on the accounts of a 96-year-old woman? They put forward the principle of non-interference, which provides that the bank cannot interfere in the affairs of its client, except for an apparent anomaly.
In the columns of ParisianCrdit Mutuel explains: We had release letters signed and sent several warning letters to the client, who systematically explained that she was doing what she wanted with her money.
False adviser scam: the right reflexes to get reimbursed by your bank
If the bank does nothing when it finds an abuse, its responsibility may be engaged, it is the question of the duty of vigilance that arises, explains to the daily Mlanie Saldanha, jurist at UFC-Que Choisir.
The stakes are high. Logic dictates that your bank will reimburse you immediately in the event of a scam, but some refuse, accusing you of negligence. With this in mind, it is particularly recommended not to incriminate oneself when filing a complaint.