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LIVING IN FRANCE

How to avoid the latest text message scam in France

A new and authentic-seeming text message scam is circulating in France. Here is how you can avoid it.

Published: 1 July 2024 16:21 CEST
How to avoid the latest text message scam in France
Photo by Chad Madden on Unsplash

A new text message scam is making the rounds in France, according to French radio channel RMC, citing information from the website signal-arnaques.com. 

Many people with French phone numbers have reported receiving an SMS allegedly from a delivery person, telling them that the package they were waiting for “did not fit into the mailbox”.

In French, it may read something like “votre colis est trop gros pour votre boîte aux lettres” or “votre colis ne rentrait pas dans la boite aux lettres“.

READ MORE: What to do if you have fallen victim to a scam in France

Then, the recipient is told to click a link that would give them a time slot to pick up the package (“Merci de choisir un créneau via …”)

The fake link appears to take the recipient to a Mondial Relay or other similar looking package pick-up website, and then the user is expected to enter personal information, including banking details, to arrange a new delivery. 

The scam is convincing because it’s similar to the genuine messages – it’s common to get a text message telling you that a parcel has been delivered, or if you are not home the company will contact you to arrange another pick-up time or location. 

In order to tell whether the message is a scam, you should verify the delivery rules for the company you are using.

For example, if you scheduled the delivery with Mondial Relay, then the package would not be brought to your home (unless you live outside of France) but rather to a specified relay point or self-service locker. 

READ MORE: Warning: 6 of the most common scams in France to watch out for

Other companies, like Chronopost, may deliver to your home, but they include send information to show proof of the order, such as the package number and your name within the text message.

Avoiding scams

This is not the only type of text message scam in France. There are several others, and many of them are related to packages or the postal service. 

If you have any concerns about the validity of a text message, you can always consult the signal-arnaques.com website, or the French government site Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr. 

Do not click the links provided if you have any doubt about the message. A key giveaway is that the scam sites and emails tend to ask users to pay for services that would normally be free on real sites.

Similarly, pay attention to any notice of an anti-virus notification. If the website popped up with a warning that it may be dangerous to click links or that it may contain a virus, then take additional steps to verify its legitimacy before opening.

RMC reported that one person who clicked the link said: “I received an alert message from Safari saying ‘This connection is not private. This website may be trying to pass itself off as consignesinfos.com in order to obtain your personal or financial information'”.

You can also report scams or illegal content on the internet at Pharos, the government’s official portal for reporting illegal internet content.

Member comments

  1. Just look at the address of the scam: usually it is quite different from the real thing – but not always. For example it may have a tiret instead of a dot.
    Always compare it carefully with bone-fide address

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LIVING IN FRANCE

Explained: What to do if you leave your belongings on a train in France

Here's a look at the steps you should take if you discover that you have left an important or treasured item on a French train.

Published: 3 July 2024 14:59 CEST
Explained: What to do if you leave your belongings on a train in France

We’ve all done it. You get home, or to your hotel or office to realise that, when you got off the train, you forgot to pick up your wallet, laptop, or tablet or sometimes even items of luggage.

Or – every parent’s nightmare – one of your children has left behind their beloved cuddly toy, and only realises as the train you’ve just got off leaves the station.

The good news is that all is not, necessarily, lost. 

The first step is to report the missing item to SNCF. You can do this at the station, but if you’ve got home before you realise something is missing, you can report lost property online (you can change the language of the website).

You will need to describe what you’ve lost, when you lost it, and which train you were travelling on – as well as giving your contact details. 

What happens next

First of all, you will be given a declaration number. Keep it safe – it allows you to track the progress of SNCF’s search for your lost property.

Even so – we have to be honest – the investigation relies a fair bit on good fortune. If your lost property is found on the train by a member of staff, or handed in at a station, then there’s a good chance you’ll get it back. 

It may be that your lost property has already been handed in. If so, it will be registered on SNCF’s national lost property database and kept for 30 days at the station where the item was picked up or, for items forgotten on a train, at the station where they arrived.

Deadline

The database is monitored in real-time matching found items with reports of lost property. When your property has been located, you will be informed, and can go to the station where it is stored, or have it sent to your home address, subject to a shipping charge.

If you do collect it from the station, take along proof of ID – and expect to pay a fee of up to €10, depending on the value of the property you have reported missing.

And, after 30 days?

If items of lost property are not claimed after 30 days, it may be handed over to the government’s Administration des domaines, sold to a charitable organisation or destroyed.

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