Romain Rouillard 6:30 p.m., January 30, 2023
More and more motorists are receiving text messages inviting them to acquire a Crit'Air sticker, which is compulsory for driving in low emission zones (ZFE).
Problem: it is actually a scam aimed at extracting the victims' bank details.
The scam has particularly developed in 2022.
You live in the provinces but sometimes, for various reasons, you have to reach the capital with your vehicle.
It is therefore necessary to bring a Crit'Air sticker, which is essential to circulate freely in low-emission zones.
This small sticker indicates the environmental class of your car and must imperatively display 1, 2 or 3 to authorize you to drive in the ZFE.
A boon for some crooks who were quick to smell the good vein.
Their modus operandi consists of sending you an SMS or an email reminding you of the need to acquire the famous vignette.
And invites you to click on a link that sends you to a site that looks exactly like the government site.
This is a phishing attempt (or phishing) intended to recover, without your knowledge, the bank details that you will provide to obtain the precious sticker.
A scam likely to cost you several thousand euros.
[#ALERT#Cybersecurity] Crit'Air thumbnail: ongoing wave of fraudulent #emails and #SMS
⚠️ It's a #scam / #phishing!
➡️ Risks: theft of personal and bank data
️ Do not answer and report!
#CritAir#phishingpic.twitter.com/T3bWDIaOPB
— Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr (@cybervictimes) October 13, 2022
Only the secure government site is authorized to issue it.
Quoted by France 3 Normandie, William Hippert, head of the Organized Crime Strategic Analysis Service, recalls that only the certificate-air.gouv.fr site is authorized to issue the Crit'Air sticker and that it is not " never a question of asking for any bank details".
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If the scam is not new – the first victims were identified in Paris in 2017 – it particularly intensified at the end of last year.
Still according to William Hippert, quoted this time by AFP, these scams would have more than doubled in 2022 compared to the two previous years.
This is explained by the increase in the number of EPZs throughout France.
Currently, 11 tricolor agglomerations have adopted one and by 2025 - in application of the Climate law - all municipalities with more than 150,000 inhabitants will be required to introduce one.
As a reminder, the absence of a vignette on your vehicle within a low-emission zone is punishable by a fine of 68 euros.