It was a reader who alerted us to this spam campaign. The fraudulent message indicates that you have been summoned by the gendarmerie in the context of an ongoing case, under “article 390-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure”. The author of the message invites you to click on an attachment, which would contain the invitation. Other Internet users have also been targeted.
Now we even get spam from the @Gendarmerie 😂 more and more ingenious! pic.twitter.com/7MBwVcA2W5
– Noémie (@ Nomie4) August 17, 2021
A variant sends you a false summons directly, by usurping the identity of Christian Rodriguez, the director general of the National Gendarmerie, and that of Catherine de Bolle, the Belgian director of Europol. The message indicates that “legal proceedings” are initiated against the recipient of the email, for acts of “child pornography, pedophilia, exhibitionism, cyber pornography and sex trafficking”.
FAKE OFF
These messages are “scams”, confirms the National Gendarmerie with 20 minutes. “The National Gendarmerie does not send an email specifying that you have consulted a child pornography site”, also denied the institution on Twitter.
If you were accused of facts of such a nature, the gendarmes would go directly to your home and would not summon you by email, she adds.
#Recall ❗️The #gendarmerie does not send an email stating that you have visited a site # child pornography.
If you’re really concerned, we’ll come knocking on your door.
Spam or illegal content? ⤵️https://t.co/Uews5xkZHA https://t.co/56vGqUNhhl pic.twitter.com/DqJZlzMLTo– National Gendarmerie (@Gendarmerie) August 27, 2021
Belgian federal police also denied the authenticity of this “summons”. If you have any doubts about the authenticity of a message you receive, she reminds you that you should never reply “to an e-mail which seems surprising or even suspicious to you”. If the message contains spelling or grammatical errors, this is again suspect. These tips are of course valid for French internet users.
The Belgian police officers also reminded never to communicate personal data (password, identifiers…) or banking data by email or telephone. Finally, the police advise to ensure the authenticity of the e-mail by contacting the alleged sender, without responding to the e-mail received. Here, it is possible to contact the French gendarmes by chat on this website of the Ministry of the Interior.
You can also report spam or illegal content on this dedicated website,
complete Maddy Scheurer, the spokesperson for the National Gendarmerie.
What if you have followed up on the email? The spokesperson advises to file a complaint. The ideal is to have taken all the necessary precautions beforehand so as not to be trapped.