Credit cards: how to avoid being a victim of fraud?

The French Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Banque de France, the French Banking Federation, and the Observatoire de la sécurité des means of payment wish to alert you to the most frequent bank scams, reminding you that:

• your bank advisor will never ask you for a code, password or identifier, or to conduct or validate a financial transaction;
• the Banque de France will never ask you for your bank details, personal information or the cancelation of a banking transaction;
• the tax administration will not send you an invitation to fill out an online form to get a refund without logging into your personalized space. She won't text you about an unpaid fine either.

In addition, you should take some precautions regarding your payment methods, including:

• never use the links present in a message when you are not sure who the sender is (fraudsters use this method to obtain your confidential information)
• verify that the web page is secure (its name must start with https) when you pay on the internet;
• focus on the most secure strong authentication solution for your online payments (bank application on smartphone or smartwatch, etc.);
• never share your security data (usernames, passwords, etc.) to anyone;
• do not store your security data on physical media (notebook, post-it, etc.) or IT (hard drive, e-mail, file on your laptop, etc.)

What should you do if you have been a victim of bank fraud?

If you've been a victim of payment fraud, you need to react quickly by following these 3 steps:

• To object to the means of payment concerned (card, check, etc.) by contacting your bank. For the credit card, you can also call the special number of the interbank server: 0 892 705 705 (surcharged number, open 7 days a week and 24 hours a day).
• Report fraudulent payment transactions to law enforcement. You can use the Perceval gait to report credit card fraud, and the Theseus device Online complaints about Internet scams.
• Contact your bank to challenge fraudulent payment transactions. The law provides for the immediate reimbursement of unauthorized transactions under certain conditions. Check with your bank to find out how to apply.