Internet scam or scam: it is now possible to file a complaint online

If you are the victim of an Internet scam, you can now file a complaint online via the guided choice form available on service-public.fr, if the facts fall within the following situations:

• hacking of electronic and instant messaging (emails, social networks...);
• online blackmail (threats to honor against demands for money);
• ransomware (demanding ransom to unblock a computer);
• romance scam (to gain a person's affection under a false identity, in order to extract money from him);
• ad scam;
• fraud related to sales sites.

Article 42 of the Law of 23 March 2019 on Programming 2018-2022 and Reform for Justice enabled the creation of this mechanism, dubbed THESEE (for “harmonized handling of investigations and reports of e-scams”), whose implementation and regulatory framework are specified by a decree of 24 May 2019 and two decrees of 26 June 2020.

Complaints can be filed via the FranceConnect account, whose data are used to identify the applicant, who may then resume, supplement or withdraw his initial declaration. This complaint will be available in the personal file of

FranceConnect

for six years.

A simple alert, equivalent to a handrail in a police station or gendarmerie, is also possible, indicating an email address as a contact point, if you do not have an account

FranceConnect

, or if you do not feel it necessary to use or identify yourself.

The aim is to avoid traveling to a police station or gendarmerie brigade, but traditional complaints or reporting remain possible for these cases of scams and Internet scams. A receipt from the open file, with a copy of the complaint report or confirmation of the lodging of the alert, shall be returned immediately.

Complaints and reports are handled by a team of 17 police and gendarmes assigned to the Office central de lutte contre la criminalité liée aux technologies de l'information et de la communication (OCLCTIC), who will indicate whether the complaint is admissible or not. The estimated response time is approximately eight days, for a daily case volume estimated at 500.

The choice form will direct you to other services in other cases. Credit card specific fraud (your card is used for a purchase that you did not make) will continue to be dealt with by the specialized platform

Perceval

, also usable via

FranceConnect

. Reports of illegal acts found on the Internet (racism, calls for violence, child pornography, piracy of protected content, scam sites, etc.) will be directed to the portal Pharos. Situations concerning a breach or infringement of consumer law, a dispute over the performance of a contract remain dealt with by the DGCCRF, via Conso Signal.

Infringements of property, discrimination, insults, etc. may be subject to an online pre-complaint, before going to a police station or gendarmerie for confirmation and signature. In other cases (aggression, accident, fire, etc.), report directly to one of these safety units.