A new scam is multiplying by email and SMS. This time, it’s the Crit’Air sticker that is used as an excuse for scammers to extract money from you. We explain how not to be fooled!
A dreadful new scam is all the rage among scammers. At least sixty people have already been victims of it and it would have even cost nearly 10,000 euros to one of them at the end of the year 2022. This scam plays on the establishment of new Low Emission Zones mobility ZFE-m. The victims receive an email or an SMS, asking them to order a Crit’Air sticker in an emergency, on the pretext that their vehicle does not have one. The crooks wave the threat of a ticket, explaining that a police officer would have noticed this breach.
The message is followed by a link to an official-looking website, on which you will be asked to fill in your personal and/or bank details. This is called phishing, or phishing in French. A variant consists in the creation of a site identical in all respects to that – official – of the government, in order to recover the data of victims, thinking of ordering their certificate in the right place. Pay attention to the URL of the site before orderingthe only correct one is https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/.
In some cases, the scam does not stop there. Once you enter your personal details, the scammer can call you pretending to be your banker. The goal: to warn you that you have been duped, and to ask you for access to your accounts under the pretext of canceling the transaction. This type of scam would have almost doubled in 2022 compared to the previous two years.
What’s next after this ad
How to protect yourself against scams?
To protect yourself from these scams, you have to know how to recognize them. First, pay attention to email addresses or phone numbers that send you a message. If under the appearance of an official message, the SMS is sent from a classic telephone number in 06 or 07, this is already a point that should alert you. If the message asks you to click on a link, check the site address first, and if in doubt, do not click on it. If you are asked to call a phone number, prefer go through the official contact of the organization concerned. This will allow you to ensure the credibility, or not, of the message received.
If you think you are dealing with a phishing attempt, the government has put in place platforms to report them. If it is an email scam, you can register it on signal-spam.fr. By SMS, it’s even simpler: transfer it directly to 33700, without further comment. You will then receive a reply asking you to send the telephone number concerned. This can then be cut by the telephone operator that hosts it.