France Scams: Phishing, Online & Investment Fraud Guide
Common scams in France and how to report via cybermalveillance.gouv.fr, SignalConso, and your bank.
Emergency number: 17 (police), 112 (emergency) — verify on official sources.
Last reviewed: 1 August 2026
France has seen sustained growth in online fraud, including phishing, smishing, fake parcel fee texts (impersonating La Poste, Chronopost, or Mondial Relay), investment and crypto scams, and romance fraud. The national platform cybermalveillance.gouv.fr assists victims of cybercrime by connecting them to local experts and allowing incident reports, while the Thésée platform lets victims of certain online frauds file a complaint entirely online.
The most damaging French scam of recent years is the 'faux conseiller bancaire' (fake bank adviser): a caller who already knows your name, bank, and sometimes card number — data bought from breaches — warns of fraudulent transactions and walks you through 'cancelling' them, which in reality means validating the fraudster's own payments in your banking app or reading out codes. A related plague is CPF fraud, where cold callers and texts push you to 'use your training credits before they expire', harvesting the Compte Personnel de Formation balance. Smishing waves also impersonate Ameli (health insurance), the tax office around declaration season, ANTAI with fake unpaid-fine notices, and Crit'Air vignette renewal pages.
Classified-ad fraud on Leboncoin runs in both directions — fake buyers send counterfeit 'payment guarantee' links, fake sellers take payment outside the platform's protections — and rental scams collect deposits for apartments that were never available. Street-level, Paris tourist zones still host the gold-ring find, petition clipboards that double as pickpocket distractions, and cup-and-ball games. Investment fraud favours fake savings accounts ('livrets' with unrealistically good rates), forest or parking-space placements, and crypto platforms; check the AMF and ACPR blacklists before committing. When money moves, call your bank first, then report via cybermalveillance.gouv.fr, Thésée or a commissariat, and flag consumer disputes on SignalConso.
Common scams
- Phishing emails and SMS impersonating banks, CPF, or Ameli
- Parcel-fee smishing (fake La Poste or courier texts)
- Investment and crypto fraud
- 'CPF' pension or training-account theft scams
Tourist-specific scams
- Petition or 'deaf and dumb' distraction scams
- Overcharging or fake taxi services at tourist sites
- Gold ring street scam
Online shopping scams
- Fake online retailers
- Account takeover via phishing
- Marketplace and rental deposit fraud
Job scams
- Task scams via messaging apps
- Fake job offers requiring upfront payments
- CPF 'training' cold calls that drain personal training accounts
Romance scams
- Dating-app romance and pig-butchering crypto schemes
- Long-distance 'soldier' or 'engineer' personas requesting transfer fees
- Grooming that pivots to fake crypto 'livret' savings products
Investment scams
- Fake trading platforms and clone firms
- Crypto and 'AI bot' investment scams
- Fake high-yield 'livret' savings accounts impersonating real banks
How to report a scam here
- Contact your bank immediately if a transfer was made
- Report cybercrime and get expert referrals at cybermalveillance.gouv.fr
- File a police complaint in person or at masecurite.interieur.gouv.fr
- Report consumer fraud via SignalConso at signal.conso.gouv.fr
Local reporting & protection links
Always verify reporting routes and emergency contacts on the official government or agency website for your country.
Bank & payment guidance
Contact your bank immediately using the number on your card or their official website - French banks can attempt to recall fraudulent SEPA transfers most effectively within the first few hours. Explain that you were deceived into authorising the payment, ask for it to be blocked or recalled and the receiving account reported, and keep the reference you are given. Be precise about what happened with any 'faux conseiller bancaire' call: if you validated operations in your app or read out codes under a caller's instructions, say so, because French banks assess reimbursement partly on whether the fraud involved manipulation rather than negligence, and courts have sided with victims of convincing spoofed calls. No legitimate institution asks for your full card number, CVV, or one-time code by email, text, or phone; if you gave any of these, ask about blocking the card via your bank or the interbank card-blocking service, change your online banking password, and file a complaint so you have a police reference for the dispute.
Evidence to preserve
- Screenshot all messages, profiles, websites and payment pages
- Save transaction references, account numbers and crypto wallet addresses
- Keep emails with full headers where possible
- Note dates, times, names and phone numbers used
Frequently asked questions
What is cybermalveillance.gouv.fr?
It is France's official government platform for assisting cybercrime victims. You can report an incident and be connected to a local cybersecurity professional. It also publishes guidance on current threats.
What is the CPF scam?
Fraudsters impersonate the Compte Personnel de Formation (CPF) training account system, contacting people by phone or SMS and convincing them to 'release' training credits that are then stolen. Never share your CPF access code with an unsolicited caller.
What is the 'faux conseiller bancaire' scam?
A caller poses as your bank's anti-fraud adviser, often knowing genuine account details and spoofing the bank's number. Under the guise of cancelling fraudulent transactions, they get you to validate payments in your app or share codes. Hang up and call your bank back on the number on your card — a real adviser never asks you to validate operations to 'cancel' them.
Sources
- National police and cybercrime portals (verify on official sites)
- FTC / Action Fraud / Scamwatch consumer guidance