Ignore this email from the Banque de France, even if it's not a recipient error!

Between May 7 and 9, various online media (Tuxboard, auféminin, ÉconomieMatin) report, thousands of our compatriots received a very strange email, firstly because it came from the Bank of France. However, unless you are listed as a bad payer or over-indebted, there is no reason for this public service to contact you... It is therefore in reality a fraudulent email, very poorly designed and without any logo, sent by cybercriminals, yet another one, and this is not the first time that the institution has been used without its knowledge . The scam is well-crafted although its model is not very credible.

A scam that plays on urgency, a common technique

As is often the case, the hackers' email aims to create a sense of urgency for the recipient. The sum that has supposedly been withdrawn or is in the process of being withdrawn is not ridiculous. It begins:

" A debit of 1,750 euros is currently being made at a tobacconist's for the purchase of Transcash coupons." A fake order number is given to you to add a bit of seriousness: SCE280490F . A message follows:

• "If you are the initiator of this operation, no action is required";
• "If you are NOT the originator of this payment, contact our anti-fraud service IMMEDIATELY: 01 89 70 12 71."

Please note that this number is not assigned to the Banque de France or to Transcash.

The goal is to put a hell of a lot of pressure on you to call this number. On the other end of the line, a criminal will try to extract as much personal information as possible from you: address, ID number, bank card number, to stop the transaction in progress... Don't panic. Here's why.

The Bank of France will never contact you by email.

The Banque de France is an ultra-secure institution, whose primary function is to ensure the smooth running of the country's finances, to issue official alerts if this is not the case, etc. It will never contact an individual, much less by email, to request payment of any amount or to alert them of suspicious transactions on their account. That is not its role. It is a public service, and its employees are mostly civil servants.

The company, which sells rechargeable payment cards in tobacconists in particular, is regularly highlighted by hackers . On its website , it reminds that you should "never communicate Transcash recharge codes to a third party, even if they claim to be an agent or banker." Because these payment methods are very popular with cybercriminals: they are untraceable and irreversible!

Find out before it's too late

ÉconomieMatin reveals that "several cases have been reported where victims, stressed, were led to give access to their accounts or to buy new coupons themselves , pushed by scammers playing on panic." Don't let it come to that! The community site Signal-arnaques.com indicates that: " Prepaid coupons like Transcash are regularly used for so-called 'advance payment' scams."