Total rubbish: Scam over new household bins in France

A new scam involving rubbish bins and waste collectors has been reported in France, with fraudsters pretending to be municipal workers to trick residents into handing over money.

Fraudsters in Reims (Grand Est) have been knocking on residents’ doors, incorrectly telling them that their rubbish bin needs to be changed by the council.

They then ask the resident for payment to replace the bin. But of course, once the payment is taken, the criminals disappear, and the bin remains unchanged.

The head of waste removal in Reims told local news site Union.fr that “the prevision, replacement or reparation of a bin is [always] done for free” by the council.

It added that anyone who is approached by someone appearing to be from the council out of the blue, asking for money (for a bin or otherwise), should not be paid or let inside, and should be reported to the police.

It comes in the same week as residents in France were warned to watch out for text messaging scams asking for extra fees in return for a parcel; and a “hypnosis” scam in northern France, in which a mysterious individual with a black stone tricked women into handing over valuables and cash.

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