Reporting a violation

Property crime: You can now file a full complaint online

Publié le 21 octobre 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Have you had your mobile phone or credit card stolen? You were the victim of a burglary? One of your possessions has been damaged (graffiti on the facade of your house, scratch on your car...)? You now have the option of filing a complaint remotely, without having to travel to the police or gendarmerie, provided that you do not know the offender.

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Image 1Crédits: Farknot Architect - stock.adobe.com

The service Online complaint allows you to file a complaint through a fully paperless process since 15 october 2024. The offenses covered by this scheme are offenses against property, thus in particular:

You can only file a complaint online if you don’t know the perpetrator. If you know his identity (first name and last name), you must go to a police station or the gendarmerie of your choice, or send a letter to the court of the place of the offense or the domicile of the perpetrator. Being able to provide information identifying the perpetrator (description, home, habits, etc.) is not considered to be knowledge of the perpetrator’s identity.

FYI  

Only adults can file complaints online; for child victims, the procedure must be carried out by a legal representative of the child (one of his parents, or his guardian if applicable).

Please note

This new service replaces Pre-Complaint Online, which previously allowed you to pre-file online to report a breach of property. However, this previous paperless process did not exempt you from going to a police station or gendarmerie to sign your declaration or even complete it. As part of the online complaint service, the signature of the complaint is also dematerialized. The service was tested in Gironde from the end of 2023, before being generalized to the whole territory.

How do I file a complaint online?

To file a complaint online you must in order:

  • go to the dedicated “My Security” platform ;
  • identify you with FranceConnect via your tax.gouv.fr, ameli.fr, La Poste digital identity... (you can choose not to do so, but in this case at the end of the declaration you will have to make an appointment at a police station or gendarmerie of your choice in order to present an identity document allowing you to authenticate);
  • complete your return with all the details of the offense you have been the victim of (place and date of the offense, presence or absence of witnesses, the subject of the harm...);
  • validate your return.

An officer will then take charge of your report within 48 hours, and unless there are special circumstances, it will be processed within 7 days.

The officer examines whether your report qualifies for a complaint record. If so, you are informed that a digital copy of the complaint record is available. Once your statement is transformed into a statement of complaint, the judicial investigation begins.

If, on the other hand, the officer considers that your statement does not meet the requirements for a complaint record, you will receive an email with the reason for the rejection.

FYI  

Foreigners tourists, who therefore do not have FranceConnect access, can also use the online complaint service through a system of digital authentication of their identity card or passport. The online complaint form is also available in English.

Please note

Depending on what you have reported on the Online Complaint service, you may be contacted by a police officer or gendarme to complete your report at a police station or gendarmerie.

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