Thinking they were getting a good deal, the victims were unaware that they were taking out a loan.
Ill-gotten wealth never benefits, that is perhaps what this 48-year-old man said to himself after the verdict concerning the accusation of fraud and bankruptcy against him was rendered by the Béziers criminal court . He was also given a suspended prison sentence, banned from running a business and ordered to pay damages to his 900 victims across France.
The facts go back 15 years. Posing as a website designer, this man offered his services to artisans or traders in exchange for advertisements. On paper, the offer seemed attractive, except that the web design contract was in reality a subscription to a loan offer.
An old-fashioned phishing method
“ The modus operandi consisted, essentially, of making the victims subscribe to website design contracts supposedly financed by hosting advertisements on this site, making the operation neutral for the client. », Describes Raphaël Balland, public prosecutor of Béziers.
The victims, despite having taken large sums of money, realized far too late that they had been abused. And for good reason, as the prosecutor indicates, “ the design of the website was in reality backed by the signing of a financing contract with a credit organization “. The signature was obtained through the use of fraudulent operations such as forging the client’s signature, postdating contracts or providing a false website.
This modus operandi is nothing more than a phishing method, which is wreaking havoc these days. Recently, an investigation into the fake bank advisor scam revealed that scammers could earn up to €3,000 per week.
The financial aspect of the affair reveals a very simple operation. The defendant’s web advertising rental company did not employ any employees and its only client was the website creation company. The defrauded sums were then transferred to the accounts of a third-party company belonging to the scammer and located in Morocco.
Caught by the courts after 15 years
In 2011, the Béziers judicial court opened a judicial investigation. Investigations, carried out by several successive investigating judges, revealed that hundreds of victims across France had filed complaints since 2009.
In total, hundreds of companies, one-person businesses and craftsmen believed they had been defrauded through this individual’s two companies, Odevia and Publiciweb. During the various investigations and judges which have taken place over the years, 900 victims have been identified.
Today, fortunately, and with the transposition of this type of physical scam onto the Web, the tools and means of prevention and defense made available to users are increasingly sophisticated. From antiviruses which mark the methods of hackers to strengthen their protection systems to the creation by the government of Cybermalveillance.gouv, which allows you to file complaints online more quickly, heavy artillery is deployed to fight against cybercrime.
On March 21 and 22, 2024, more than 15 years after the first complaints were filed, the 48-year-old man was tried for these facts by the Béziers criminal court. Accused of fraud and bankruptcy, he was given a two-year suspended prison sentence as well as a ban on managing a business for 15 years. The Béziers criminal court also ordered the man to pay more than 100,000 euros in damages to the victims who became civil parties during this trial.
Source : Franceinfo
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