This is one of the biggest scam techniques in France and it is making a comeback. We explain how to protect yourself from it.
There are many online scams circulating. Hackers are not short of inspiration to find ideas likely to deceive your vigilance and access various thefts. However, prevention campaigns generally make it possible to warn the population against popular scams. This allows you to keep up to date with the maneuvers and strategies of hackers. But like certain fashions, there are scams that disappear only to come back even stronger.
This is the case with the Vitale card scam. Although this small green card cannot allow direct payment or access to bank accounts, its capabilities often remain underestimated.
Very widespread in 2022, the Vitale card scam has affected many French people through several methods. The most common is phishing. A technique that seems simple, since it simply consists of pretending to be the ameli.fr site in order to ask you for personal data. Thus, hackers can recover your social security number, your telephone number or even your banking information.
While this scam had significantly decreased last year, it is coming back in force in 2024. Health Insurance notably sent a warning to its beneficiaries at the beginning of July to warn of the return of the scam and its dangerous expansion during the first months of the year.
The technique is however simple: malicious people will generally send you an email or SMS claiming to need to renew your health card. Once you click on the link sent, you are asked to pay a certain amount by entering your bank details on a site that closely resembles Ameli.fr.
To avoid falling into this trap, just remember that the Carte Vitale is completely free and does not need to be renewed! The Carte Vitale does not have an expiration date. In case of loss, requesting a new card is also free.
However, if you think you have been the victim of a Carte Vitale scam, you are strongly advised to quickly block your payment methods and contact your bank to talk to them about it and decide on the blocks and measures to take.