The Financial Markets Authority and the Prudential Control and Resolution Authority expanded their blacklists of unauthorized websites on the French market by 1,300 references last year, a hundred more than in 2020.
1,200 of the 1,300 fraudulent sites referenced concerned offers of “credits, bank books, payment services and insurance contracts”, and 860 were the subject of identity theft, which has become one of the favorite techniques of crooks to phish their victims online.
Over 3,860 fraudulent names listed
The ACPR and the AMF have five different “black lists” which it is recommended to consult systematically when approached by a financial operator. Together, these lists included as of December 31, 2021 more than 3,860 names of fraudulent or questionable sites or actors identified by state services.
These lists can be viewed on the AMF website (binary options, miscellaneous goods, forex, cryptos, credits, savings accounts, payment services) and on the Assurance Banque Epargne Info Service information platform.
Both platforms have search engines that allow queries by name, product category, URL and/or email address.
Whitelists and public registers
It should be remembered that these lists, which are regularly expanded, are not exhaustive: new players continue to appear and the sites identified can quickly change their identity.
At the same time, the AMF provides white lists of financial intermediaries for “atypical” products or transactions (“miscellaneous goods”, fundraising in tokens “Initial Coin Offerings”, “digital asset service providers”), holders of a license authorizing them to market their offers in France.
All the companies authorized to carry out a financial activity are listed in Regafi, the register of financial agents kept by the ACPR. Brokers are also referenced by Orias, and insurance organizations in the Refassu register.
To note !
The approval of the AMF does not guarantee that its holder is regulated by French law. A financial intermediary can completely depend on another European legislation, less protective than the national legal framework! In France, in the event of default by a broker, for example, your funds are a priori protected because they are placed in segregated accounts: this is not necessarily the case elsewhere.