- FOVI involves receiving a money transfer after deceiving a business.
- Six million euros of damage have been identified by the gendarmes of Pays-de-la-Loire for two years.
- The gendarmerie calls on companies to strengthen their security.
It is called FOVI, as "false transfer orders". This type of scam is doing more and more damage in French companies, especially in the west of France. Concerned about the extent of the phenomenon, the gendarmerie of Pays-de-la Loire decided this Friday to sound the alarm. And calls on employers to take their precautions.
“FOVIs are the work of very organized criminals who, under the cover of a false identity, manage to attract the confidence of a representative of the company to receive one or more transfers, generally abroad on an offshore account. », Explains the chief warrant officer Thierry Boisson, of the office section regional analysis.
Sometimes the scammer will pretend to be the CEO preparing an acquisition, sometimes for a supplier awaiting payment, sometimes for a technician needing access to the company's servers ... "Whatever the scenario, they manage to provide information by phone or email, or even to present false documents, which make the request credible. And the transfer is made. ".
Six million euros of damage in two years
For two years, 200 facts have been identified in Pays de la Loire, for a total loss of six million euros. SMEs are the most affected. "This is huge because we do not count the potential victims in the police zone or those who did not dare to file a complaint for fear of bad publicity," said Commander Laurent Caudan, coordinator of economic security in the region. And it continues: in January alone, eleven new FOVI cases were handled by the gendarmes of Pays-de-la-Loire, for nearly 800,000 euros in damages. The most recent, last Monday, a company from the Nantes conurbation which lost no less than 200,000 euros.
"If the victim or the bank realize the deception, we have a maximum of 72 hours to block the funds, warns Laurent Caudan. Beyond that, it will become very difficult to ascend the sector. As soon as you leave the European Union, cooperation with the authorities is complicated. "
Prevention, the most effective
The most effective, according to the gendarmerie, is therefore to strengthen prevention. “Protect your computer data against attacks, systematize double checking before making a transfer, limit the dissemination of information on the Internet or social networks. These are easy practices to put in place and can avoid major disappointments, ”insists chief warrant officer Thierry Boisson.
The gendarmerie also offers training sessions for companies (contact: securite-economique@gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr).
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