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LIVING IN FRANCE

Retirement, inheritance, and taxi scams: 6 essential articles for life in France

This week’s must-reads from The Local feature reasons to retire to France, how the residency language test is marked, important rules on inheritance, burglary rates across the country, avoiding taxi scams, and a short-term visa that some of you may find useful

Published: 24 March 2024 08:38 CET

Retirement, inheritance, and taxi scams: 6 essential articles for life in France

Taxis in Paris (Photo by Geoffroy VAN DER HASSELT / AFP)

We’re not suggesting that anyone do this on a whim – moving to another country is a big step and one that requires some advance planning. But if you’re considering it, here are a few good reasons to retire to France.

6 reasons to retire to France

If you’re one of many foreigners in France faced with taking a French language test in order to secure residency or citizenship, it might be helpful to know how the test is marked and what examiners are looking for.

Reader question: How is the French language test scored?

France has both strict laws on inheritance and high rates of inheritance tax for certain groups – but what’s the situation if you live in France but receive an inheritance from another country?

Reader question: Do I have to tell the French taxman about an inheritance from overseas?

The number of recorded home burglaries in France rose three percent to 217,600 in 2023, according to figures from the Interior Ministry. But where in the country has the highest rate?

Which parts of France have the highest (and lowest) rate of burglaries?

When taking a taxi in Paris, it is important to be prudent in order to avoid being overcharged. These are some of the things you should be aware of.

How to avoid taxi scams in Paris

Did you know … Depending on your age and nationality, you may be entitled to apply for a one-off ‘working holiday’ visa that allows you to live and work in France for a year.

EXPLAINED: What is France’s ‘working holiday’ visa?

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How to avoid the latest text message scam in France

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.

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