The exploitation of the image of celebrities, including that of journalist Élise Lucet, in misleading advertisements on social networks continues to claim victims. The latest lost nearly 100,000 euros.
Social networks, already criticized for the addiction they generate, have become the favorite hunting ground of hackers for their financial scams. Sponsored advertisements, unwittingly using the image of personalities, redirect users to fraudulent investment and crypto investment sites.
The image of the journalist Élise Lucet, known in particular for her program denouncing scams Cash Investigation, was used to give credence to these fraudulent sites. However, despite his public warning, one victim lost 90,000 euros by allowing himself to be trapped by his image.
The lure of quick profit
It all started with a simple ad on Facebook. A celebrity that Marie no longer remembers praised the merits of a trading platform that promised to make a lot of money. Intrigued, Marie decided to register, reassured by the photo of journalist Élise Lucet illustrating the post. In two clicks, she filled out a summary form, and the next day, she was contacted by a certain “ Rachel Pinto ”, who presented herself as an investment advisor for Nixse, a trading platform created in 2020 and based in Taiwan. Convinced by Rachel’s arguments, Marie decided to make a first bet of 800 euros.
At the beginning, Marie realized “ small trades » on gold and oil, which only brought him a few dozen euros. But after a week, Rachel proposed to him: a fabulous shot “. It was an investment of between 4,000 and 5,000 euros, but for that, you had to put 20,000 euros on the table. Faced with Marie’s reluctance, Rachel advanced her the money, and a few hours later, 4,600 euros fell into her trading account, to which she did not have access.
Intoxicated by this apparent success, Marie, who had already worked in the stock market in the past, began trading alone. On Nixse, her (fictitious) curves climbed: “ So, we take the confidence and we re-inject it, we transfer our A savings account which brings in nothing, we transfer everything. » She ended up accumulating up to 500,000 euros in her various accounts.
But one day in September, Marie wanted to recover her capital, which amounted to more than 90,000 euros. That’s when she realized she had been scammed. “ I’ve never seen the color of money “, she says.
Launderers, bank mules: a scam worthy of organized crime
Several months later, Marie still thinks every day about the “ beautiful relationship » that she had woven with Rachel. “ She had entered my life, we feel violated in her privacy “, she confides. Since then, it has tried to recover part of its losses by referring the matter to the banking mediator.
“ The bank has an obligation of vigilance in the event of a large transfer and must have a liability waiver signed. Otherwise, their insurance must reimburse the funds », Explains Me Jocelyn Ziegler, his lawyer. His firm, specializing in these cases, has received 600 files since 2023, with average damage approaching 120,000 euros. “ There are all profiles, from the minimum wage earner to the businessman. » The biggest loss, that of a business manager, peaks at 6 million euros.
Fraud also borrows from conspiracy. “ There is a whole discourse around those who know how to get rich, judges, bankers, politicians… and the rest of the population left in ignorance », underlines Me Ziegler.
At the top of the scam is “ organized criminal groups who do everything to anonymize themselves and give themselves the appearance of legitimacy », deciphers Anne-Sophie Coulbois, head of the Central Office for the Repression of Serious Financial Crime (OCRGDF). Roles are distributed among several teams “ very well formed “: phishing professionals to collect victims’ data, call center managers, ” sometimes a simple Airbnb rental with three people and ten phones » and “ launderers » money stolen with the help of bank mules, ready « for sometimes only 50 euros to give their name to open an account abroad », Develops the commissioner.
“ Many numbers in our files refer to Israel », confides Jocelyn Ziegler. Faced with the proliferation of these false platforms whose web addresses mutate endlessly, the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), responsible in particular for the protection of savers, has toughened its policy. Despite everything, at the time of writing, Nixse is still accessible.
Source : La Dépêche du Midi
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