As the panoply of bank scams continues to expand, the Versailles Court of Appeal has, for the first time, March 28, 2023ruled on a fraud which does not concern “phishing” (phishing), but “spoofing” (identity theft).
Here is what the victim, Mr. X, stated in his complaint, filed on June 3, 2019: ” Last Wednesday [29 mai 2019]I received a call on my mobile phone which displayed “BNP Mme [B] [J]”, who is my advisor. The woman on the phone introduces herself as Ms.me [B]. She tells me that they have noticed a hacker attack on my current account. They would have been obliged, to counter the attack, to remove beneficiaries. She therefore wanted these beneficiaries to be revalidated. »
“While staying on the line with this woman, I received messages, always from this number of the BNP where appeared each time [la demande] to validate the beneficiaries, whom I actually knew. So I validated each message with my secret code.explains the victim in his complaint.
Reimbursement and damages
In fact, the beneficiaries are not who he believes, and 54,500 euros are sent to the account of scammers. The BNP refuses to reimburse him, accusing him of gross negligence.
The Commercial Court of Pontoise agrees with him, but the Court of Appeal of Versailles judges that serious negligence is not characterized. Indeed, Mr. X “ thought he was in a relationship with a BNP Paribas employee (…) And [il] believed to validate the disputed notification on its banking application, which the bank assures that it is a secure application “.
The court further observes that Mr. X did not in any way communicate his confidential code “by phone, email, chat or social mediax », something that the BNP advises against doing. She condemns the bank to reimburse him. And adds 1,500 euros in damages for non-pecuniary damage.