The Snapchat social network is the scene of a new totally illegal deception. False sick leaves are sold for the modest sum of 30 euros to anyone. A scam set up by fraudsters impersonating real doctors.
After the scam with the electrical box and the PV, it is a whole new type of scam that some French doctors are facing! This is the case of Thierry, a French doctor whose name was changed for a report on franceinfo. After receiving several calls from employers as well as mutual insurance companies asking him to confirm various work stoppages, the GP realizes that his identity has been usurped by a forger. The man says that he counts no less than sixty work stoppages submitted in his name and even in some cases several for the same person.
“I fell from the clouds enough“, he says in the report before continuing: “I realized that a person had allowed himself to make false work stoppages with my name and those in all of France“. This is why the doctor decides to investigate in order to understand how his name and his stamp could have been found on these stops. He then discovers a network of counterfeiters on the Snapchat platform whose services can be bought in a few minutes for a few euros. The reporting teams then decided to try the experiment themselves.
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A well-crafted scam
All you have to do is connect to the Snapchat social network and type in the search bar “sick leave», Dozens of accounts offering offers ranging from 15 to 30 euros are then visible in stories. For some, the “pubs“also mention a sending by email”within 15 minutes“or even a hand delivery depending on the city where the stop is requested”signed and stamped by a real doctor“. Counterfeiters who do not lack confidence, one even went so far as to assure: “I am legit, I am square, there is no scam, there is no scam. My goal is to please people. »
Damage estimated at more than 3.4 million euros by Social Security in 2021 alone! But what recourse do doctors who become aware of identity theft have? The process is then explained in the report:The doctor must both take steps with the police or the gendarmerie, but also inform the CPAM, which can investigate the databases of the Health Insurance, in order to detect possible fraudulent work stoppages and carry out surveys“. Unfortunately, the situation is still not resolved for Thierry, the doctor who followed all of these recommendations still sees himself being contacted today by Social Security to “confirm or deny false work stoppages“.