Bonjour à tous.
J’ai besoin des conseils après avoir été très bête et victime d’une arnaque téléphonique. Suivant c’est en anglais (copié de my post à r/Scams) – je suis un peu trop stressé pour traduit en français en ce moment. En français le details de l’arnaque que j’étais victime sont [là](https://forum.aide-sociale.fr/arnaque-telephonique-assurance-t4825-10.html). Merci pour chaque conseil que vous avez.
I’ve just fallen for a scam and I need some advice on the next steps. This is in France, so if anyone has region-specific advice it would be greatly appreciated. I feel very, very stupid right now, and am panicking over what happens next. Apologies for the long post – I’m in a panic and just trying to get all the relevant details in. Thanks so much for your help.
So after a long, stressful day at work, I was caught out by a call which I thought was from my Mutuelle (additional health insurance). I am a foreigner living in France, my French is ok but not perfect especially on the phone. Usually I totally ignore unknown numbers but I’d been trying to get hold of someone to view an apartment and for some reason stayed on the line. The guy new all of my details, talked about receiving a new offer on my insurance and long story short got my IBAN from me. He went through a ‘security procedure’ of me receiving a text with a code which I repeated back to him. I have no idea why alarm bells weren’t ringing.
The idea was that they send an offer, and if I don’t like it I can inform them and refuse it.
So, naturally as soon as this ended, it clicked that I had been scammed and panic set in. A bit of googling found the method: I’ve essentially agreed to a contract (although on the phone he said it was an offer for a subscription not the subscription itself). They will set up a direct debit. If you cancel the direct debit with your bank, they harass you and hand over your details to a credit agency and bailiffs threaten to take it to court if you don’t pay within some days.
So, obviously I will be at my bank first thing in the morning to get their advice on stopping any direct debits or other new payments. My question then is how to deal with the follow up.
I have found on a French forum ([https://forum.aide-sociale.fr/arnaque-telephonique-assurance-t4825-10.html](https://forum.aide-sociale.fr/arnaque-telephonique-assurance-t4825-10.html)) some who have found the address to send cancellation notice to, but obviously the company are slippery about it. No one has given updates on the forum beyond the stage of being harassed by the collectors. But of course I will send by registered post something straight away to them.
First question: of course I have no specific details of the ‘contract’ I have agreed to (they said they will send me details but of course they won’t). Can I send a generic withdrawal notice, giving my details and perhaps the date of the phone call? Or do I need to wait to play their game and get some details from them first, increasing my risk of falling foul of collections/bailiffs?
Second question: My biggest concern is with the bailiffs – presumably the collectors hired even by scammers are real, as are the threats to go to court? If it does come to their threats, how best can I deal with this while I try to cancel this fraudulent contract? If I have sent the cancellation, am I in some way protected?
Thanks to anyone who reads and can give me some advice. It’s massively appreciated.
TL;DR: was tricked into agreeing a contract by phone; can I send a generic cancellation (I believe I have an address for the ‘company’ but no other details? And am I at legal risk from bailiffs hired by this gang even though the thing is clearly a scam?
3 comments
Tu as 14 jours pour dire non, sans préjudice : https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F10485
> Second question: My biggest concern is with the bailiffs – presumably the collectors hired even by scammers are real, as are the threats to go to court? If it does come to their threats, how best can I deal with this while I try to cancel this fraudulent contract? If I have sent the cancellation, am I in some way protected?
It’s just intimidation. “Pay up or we’ll take you to court and fuck you up”. Do what is suggested in the other comment (use your “droit de rétractation”), tell your bank to block all transactions, tell the scammers to get fucked. If they keep pushing and you got a bit of time, get a lawyer and see if you can sue them for harassing you.
Hey,
So in short. This is what is called in France “Démarchage par téléphone”. Since they are the one who called you, whatever contract you signed, you have two weeks to change your mind and cancel it without any fees. [More info here](https://www.cgv-expert.fr/prestation-redaction-conditions-generales/droit-retractation-vente-telephone)
The best you can do, is to find an address and send them a letter to be delivered against signature(avec accusé de reception). In this letter you state your name, address, time of call, and that according to the law, you use your withdrawal right (droit de retractation). You can find template letters on the net easily.
If they have no address (very likely), send a sms to the number who contacted you, requesting the address to contact them.
Whatever you do, keep track of everything (create a small document somewhere). If (unlikely but) they decide to go to court, you will have proof that you did send the cancel letter, or at least try to send it but they never provided an address to do so.
More likely, they might try to send collection, they have zero legal power as long as there are no decision from a judge. So as long as it is just a company sending you letter “you own us money” ignore them.