Electric car charging stations are multiplying. There are numerous stations dotting the streets of the national territory, and now, they are also setting up at home. In May 2023, the government boasted of having achieved 100,000 charging points open to the publicand aims for 400,000 by 2030. Faced with this phenomenon which continues to grow, investing in the market for electric charging stations may seem interesting, just be careful, a scam offering investments is circulatingas revealed by the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) on January 30, 2024.
False advertisements offering investments in parking lots
You may have recently noticed an advertisement encouraging investment in parking lots. Be careful, because it may be a scam. The alert of this new scam was given by the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), via a press release. As she explains, the public financial institution has received several “reports from both savers and press company managers“.
Published in December 2023 and January 2024 in the press, the fraudulent advertisements appear in newspapers specializing in investment, but also in other press titles. They offer readers the opportunity to invest in car parks equipped with electric charging stationshighlighting “five so-called good reasons to invest“.
Couldfraudulent offers: un Suspicious QR Code not to scan
In reality, these advertisements are suspected of “impersonate existing companies“, indicates the AMF. The latter particularly warns the public regarding a telephone number and a QR Code, which would redirect to a site located in Colombia. The institution then calls for do not scan or activate the QR Code, as well as not to contact the telephone number. “Even if you do not subscribe to this offer, these actions could put you on lists of potential scam victims“, she emphasizes.
The institution reports that “contractual recovery guarantees and bank guarantees” are displayed, but no warning on the risks of the investment is present. Furthermore, the AMF lists several “rules of vigilance” for savers before making an investment. Among all, it recommends do not provide personal contact details to sites whose reliability cannot be attested, beware of advertisements of investment whose advertiser is not identifiable and those which do not mention the risks, or to always take the time to think.
Sources:
- 100,000 electric charging stations open to the public – Government
- The AMF warns the public against fraudulent advertisements published in the press offering investments in car parks with electric charging stations – Financial Markets Authority (AMF)