Paris (AFP)

The loss for savers who are victims of financial scams has been evaluated at "at least 1 billion euros" from the beginning of July 2017 to the end of June 2019, said Tuesday the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office, and the stock market regulators (AMF) and the bank insurance (ACPR).

Beyond this official order of magnitude, there is a "black figure important in this area since many people do not report the facts of which they were victims," ​​said the Prosecutor of the Republic of Paris, Rémy Heitz, during a joint press conference.

"We are facing an extremely agile and evolving delinquency, which adapts very quickly," he said, wishing to alert the general public to these fraudulent practices devastating the "heritage plan" but also human.

In an environment where the yields of institutional investment products are very low, "the idea may be tempting to look for other products presented as new and very attractive", but they present "significant risks of loss" ", warn the three institutions together.

More than 1,000 websites or fraudulent entities, including 329 since January 1, 2019, are now listed on the five blacklists published on the site Insurance Bank Savings Information Service (ABEIS).

In the first half of 2019 alone, the AMF drew public attention to 119 new sites (after 153 in 2018).

Among the incriminated investments: diamonds, rare earths, cryptoactives, cattle herds, grands crus or "forex" (international currencies) offered by well-documented sites, often ephemeral, which have an "appearance of seriousness" under their control. fictional character.

To stem this "scourge", the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office, the AMF and the ACPR are calling savers "to the utmost vigilance" and to point out to them "dubious offers", asking them to file a complaint in the event of actual fraud. .

Over 50s account for more than 65% of victims and 81% of all sums lost, with the most affected age group being 60-69 years old.

"A finding that can be explained both by a greater wealth, availability for solicitations made by telephone and certain factors of vulnerability such as family isolation or the search for socialization," according to a survey by the AMF.

In the geographical ranking, the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region is the first region affected by scams (17.3% of the amounts invested), followed by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Occitanie.

© 2019 AFP