Watch out for cybercrooks who pretend to be French anti-fraud officers

The French government’s cyber crime agency has warned that cybercriminals are assuming its identity in a new scam. 

Criminals have been sending emails claiming to be from Cybermalveillance, which was set up by the French government in 2017 to help victims of cyber crime. 

“Since Monday morning July, 1 2024, waves of phishing messages (emails) impersonating Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr have been sent on a massive scale,” the agency said in a press release. 

In the email, the scammers impersonate the cyber crime agency and inform the recipient that their name is “in our database of people who may have fallen victim to fraud”. 

They then ask the recipient to confirm their email address by replying to the email. 

Read more: Scams in France: watch out for these telephone prefixes

Cybermalveillance urged people not to open any emails that looked suspicious. It has reported the phishing attempts to the relevant authorities, it said. 

Read more: Holidaymakers in France hit by huge surge of online crime aided by AI

It gave an example of the kind of phishing email people have been receiving. 

Example of a fraudulent message:

Sujet : Programme de soutien aux victimes de fraude

Date : 01 Juil 2024 09:06

Contact : contact@cybermalveillance.gouv.fr

Répondre à : fabien.duhamel.cybermalveillance@outlook.com

Bonjour, 

Nous avons remarqué que votre adresse e-mail figure dans notre base de données des personnes victimes de fraude. Si cela est bien le cas, veuillez nous le confirmer en nous répondant afin que nous puissions prendre les mesures nécessaires pour vous aider.Nous avons mis en place un programme de remboursement pour les victimes d’arnaques, et nous souhaitons vous offrir notre assistance dans cette démarche. Votre confirmation nous permettra de vous inclure dans ce programme et de travailler ensemble pour récupérer vos pertes.Nous sommes là pour vous soutenir, n’hésitez pas à nous contacter dès que possible.

Cordialement,

Fabien Bourbon

Agent de Cybermalveillance 

Subject: Fraud victim support programme

Date : 01 Juil 2024 09:06

Contact : contact@cybermalveillance.gouv.fr

We've noticed that your e-mail address is on our database of people who have been victims of fraud. If this is the case, please confirm it by replying to us so that we can take the necessary steps to help you.

We have set up a refund programme for scam victims, and we would like to offer you our assistance in this process. Your confirmation will enable us to include you in this programme and work together to recover your losses.

We are here to support you, so please contact us as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

Fabien Bourbon

Cybermalveillance Agent