- Unesco is alerting this Wednesday morning to the proliferation of scams involving false works of African art.
- By claiming to be from Unesco, crooks sell statuettes or masks from private collections in Africa.
- Unesco has recorded around thirty reports in the space of twelve months. This represents around one million euros diverted.
It all started in late April with an invitation from Samuel Eto'o on Facebook. Usually, Yolande never responds to this kind of message. “But my son is a soccer fan. He asked me to accept, sorry the fifty-something. He said to me: "Imagine? If it is, it's really Samuel Eto'o!" " No. It was not him. But that's how, two months later, the name of Yolande came to inflate the list of victims of scams of false African works of art.
Unesco is alerting this Wednesday morning to the proliferation of scams involving cultural goods from Africa. In recent months, this UN agency has indeed noticed that the scammers did not hesitate to fraudulently use their name and logo to mount scams in France. Or even usurp the identity of some of its members to convince the targets to pay them funds.
"It was when he spoke of UNESCO that my head got hot"
“For two years, these scams have multiplied. Over the past twelve months, we have noted around thirty reports. This represents around 1 million euros diverted, says Cédric Bourgeois, head of the investigation unit at Unesco. Very often, the victims end up calling Unesco headquarters. This is how they discover the pot of roses. "
Like Yolande. "It was when this fake Samuel Eto'o told me about Unesco that my head started to heat up," she confirms. I wanted to check… ”But the damage was already done. And this employee of an insurance company had already offloaded 6,400 euros, part of which was deducted directly from her daughter's bank account…
Beware of the return of scams to false vouchers on Facebook https://t.co/guyOtPN7r2 via @ 20 minutes
Bahamas scam, read the document and do not click on the link requesting your bank details.
700 euros for a “ritual”, 2,000 euros for customs…
To convince her, the scammer served her a tailor-made story. After ten days of kidding discussion on Facebook and WhatsApp, he proposed to put her in touch with one of his American friends, an art collector. "I just had to act as an intermediary for the purchase of African statuettes ...", continues Yolande.
The scenario was well put together: the works came from Magba, a Cameroonian village that really exists, on the banks of the Mbam river. And the head of this village proposed to sell them so that he could build a school and a hospital. "I even got a call from the village chief who explained all this to me," still chokes Yolande. Because obviously everything was wrong. The photos of the statuettes, like the videos showing men packing them at Douala airport before departure…
On the other hand, at each stage, the French fifties had to pay a small payment: 700 euros for "the ritual" allowing the statuettes to leave the village, 200 euros for transport to the airport, 2,000 euros for customs… “It was when he asked me for 1,200 euros on the basis of a Unesco certificate that I became concerned…”
The psychological brake on the first payment
Anne-Sophie Coulbois knows these stories well. Divisional commissioner at the head of the Central Office for the repression of serious financial crime (OCRGDF), she confirms that this scam is classic. “Each time, we wonder how people are being tricked. But you should know that the scammers are organized, numerous and that they adapt their scenarios according to the victims. And they know very well that the stamp of an official organization such as Unesco on a paper helps to convince. "
The objective is always to obtain the first payment, which will bring others. "The goal is the reiteration of" small payments ", continues the police. Once the psychological brake on the first transfer has passed, the victims find it harder to admit that they have been victims and continue to pay… ”So, last year, one of them ended up alerting authorities after losing a total of 800,000 euros.
Three false Samuel Eto'o arrested in Douala
It is to prevent this from happening again that Unesco is today raising the alarm. "We would like to remind you that Unesco never intervenes in the trade of private collections, either as an intermediary or as a certifying agent," said Cédric Bourgeois. But the scheme seems to be gaining momentum. Two days ago, he also received a report concerning the sale of seven works from a Cameroonian village fraudulently certified by the UNESCO office ... in India.
News - Football / Three false "Samuel Eto'o" arrested in Cameroon
Defendants are accused of having usurped the identity of the former Cameroonian international to scam his fans on social networks, including Facebook.https: // t.co/RpY1SwHYL5 pic.twitter.com/Kz438VleLU
But it is in Africa that the heart of the scam is located. In mid-June, three "false Samuel Eto'o" were arrested in Douala (Cameroon). But there are probably others. "We are trying to strengthen international cooperation on this subject," concludes Anne-Sophie Coulbois. But we must admit that there is still room for improvement. "
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- Cameroon
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- Unesco World Heritage
- Africa
- Unesco
- Scam
- Samuel Eto'o