-
Letters: French rail fines are so severe even for honest mistakes
Connexion reader says his relatives have been put off visiting France
-
Watchdog highlights Christmas food shopping ‘scams’ in France
Pastries with palm oil, excess packaging, inflated prices…vote for the worst ‘scam’ in this food watchdog’s annual contest
-
Letters: How are hybrid cars supposed to carry a spare tyre in France?
Connexion reader says electric vehicles simply do not have enough space
Beware of this latest French phone scam
Connexion reader, Malise Ruthven, shares a recent phone scam they fell victim to
Regarding your recent story about bank and similar scams, I would like to add a warning.
I recently had a phone call on my fixed line from a woman claiming to work for Orange.
She explained technicians were updating my network and gave me various numbers to call, instructing me to leave my fixed phone décroché while they made necessary adjustments.
This lasted several hours.
It happened that our handyman came by while I was on one of the calls.
He immediately suspected a scam, and told me to ring off and check with Orange.
I called the helpline and learned, to my chagrin, that the foreign-based ‘technicians’ had relieved my account of €67.
The charges had been incurred by my leaving the set off its holder, while being asked occasionally to call different French numbers.
I assume these were premium numbers, although I did not think this at the time.
I hope you can add this scam to your list in future versions of your excellent articles.
Read more: Beware new telephone scam for bank details doing rounds in France
By Malise Ruthven, via email
Related articles
Bank fraud and other scams on rise in France: What to watch out for
Warning over French tax rebate email scam
Scam alert: Fraudsters pose as French police to con people out of cash