The scammer "had all the info," 28-year-old data expert Sarah Dembele told AFP.

During her telephone conversation, where her correspondent invites her to validate fraudulent transactions, under the pretext of being able to find those responsible, she even receives an SMS whose sender name is that of her bank.

"As soon as I cut, I understood that there was something weird," she recalls.

His bank refuses to reimburse him the amount collected, rejecting him the responsibility.

To spread out his losses, the establishment offered him a loan equivalent to the amount soared.

These situations are very numerous, according to UFC-Que Choisir, which announced Tuesday that it has taken legal action against 12 banking establishments which it accuses of refusing to reimburse their customers who are victims of fraud.

In its complaint for "misleading commercial practices", UFC-Que Choisir targets La Banque Postale, Crédit Agricole, Banque Populaire, BNP Paribas, Société Générale, CIC, LCL, Boursorama, ING, Nickel, Cetelem and Floa Banque.

Various reasons

According to the association, which has analyzed 4,300 reports for refusal of reimbursement, 60% of which concern damage greater than 4,000 euros and possibly up to several tens of thousands of euros, banks make consumers believe "that they do not 'have no right to reimbursement' and 'deceive them on the extent of their rights'.

"The most widespread method consists in accusing the victims of + negligence +. An alibi which is not admissible and even less when the operation has been validated with the only SMS. In second place comes the systematic refusal to reimburse in case of reinforced authentication, without the bank providing proof that its customer is at the origin of the payment.

Other banks try to justify themselves by indicating that their insurance refuses any support, which is not a valid reason, denounces UFC-Que Choisir in a press release.

For Raphaël Bartlomé, head of the legal department of UFC-Que Choisir, the answers of the banks show "an industrialization of the treatment", in violation of the Monetary and Financial Code which circumscribes the criteria for refusal of reimbursement.

"The bank must show how (customers) were negligent, one by one," he said.

Tell your banker

Asked by AFP, the French Banking Federation (FBF) stressed that "more than 85% of requests sent by customers in the event of disputed card payment transactions are reimbursed".

The Banque de France in Paris in January 2020 STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN AFP/Archives

But "not all fraud is bank fraud", insists the French banking lobby.

Thus, "reimbursements are not automatic because it is necessary to verify that the dispute does not originate in a commercial dispute, that the fraud does not come from gross negligence or that the dispute is not made outside the legal deadlines. for example,” he recalls.

The UFC-Que Choisir also seized the Prudential Control and Resolution Authority (ACPR), the regulator of banks and insurers, and Bercy "to intensify controls and establish a framework guaranteeing the effectiveness of the right to reimbursement of victims of fraud".

In April 2021, the Banque de France and the ACPR called on payment players to reimburse better and faster in the event of fraud.

In the event of fraud, "the first reflex must be to oppose, via its online bank, its app, by calling the telephone number registered on your bank card or directly your bank", warns the FBF, then "contact his advisor, who will determine the circumstances and advise on the formalities to be followed".

© 2022 AFP