2024-07-06 05:24:10
Many French people have recently received a fraudulent SMS.
“Last warning before the increase of 135 euros”. Many French people have received this message recently. This is an SMS “shake”, warning that you must pay the fine quickly before it increases and therefore costs more. The message even “comes out” from “Gov”, in other words the government. At least, in appearance. The sender even includes a link that allows you to pay your fees. Did you forget to pay for your parking? Don’t you notice the radar beamed at you? At a glance, you may be tempted to click the link. You definitely shouldn’t!
© Screenshot / Maxime GIL
Because like many other SMS messages of this type, everything is false in the “final warning” that is sent. First, the National Agency for Automatic Criminal Processing (ANTAI) – an organization which mediates the payment of fines – does not send text messages to people who have committed a crime. When this is followed by a so-called automatic check (radar in particular) and there is no check by the police, the ticket is sent by mail to the postal address of the vehicle holder.
From then on, the offender has up to 30 days to pay and benefit from a reduction in the amount. On the other hand, if you don’t pay your debt 60 days after the crime, the amount will increase. But no reminder will be made by SMS if the deadlines are not respected. The regulation provides that by letter the State informs of the increase in the fine. So it is important not to ignore the SMS that should encourage you to pay quickly.
Also, to avoid confusion, two elements must be checked when receiving an SMS: the telephone number and the link in the message. In our case, the text message is sent from 06, namely a completely traditional number. However, there are no official messages from this number. Also, the link you refer to does not correspond at all to the fine payment website. The only staff and security available are as follows: https://www.amendes.gouv.fr/. Getting a completely different link therefore shows the deceptive nature of the message.
#SMS #received #French #people #false #careful