The fraud repression sanctioned Etat Civil en Ligne for deceptive commercial practice. This site sells normally free administrative services by pretending to be an official administrative platform.
Most administrative procedures are free, yet many sites charge for them fraudulently, playing on the ignorance of Internet users. The Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Repression (DGCCRF) estimates the number of people abused each year by these online scams at one million, which corresponds to 150 million euros unduly billed. However, there is no justification for charging for these procedures.
And it’s very easy to be fooled! Some sites do not hesitate to buy keywords in order to get to the top of search results: this is what we call commercial referencing. On the contrary, official sites are not always referenced. However, the Internet user, after having entered the keywords relating to his search for administrative documents, is more likely to then click on one of the first links proposed without paying further attention to the commercial nature of the site. And pay for nothing…
The DGCCRF announces that it has pinned the website Civil Status Online (étatcivilenligne.fr) on this subject, for deceptive commercial practices. He proposed – and still proposes! – to obtain birth, marriage or death certificates, for a sum of 29.90 euros, by pretending to be the French administration. He was fined 120,000 euros.
Etatcivilenligne.fr: a misleading presentation of the site
This practice is not illegal in itself, the problem comes from the presentation of the site. Indeed, at the time of the investigation,étatcivilenligne.fr included numerous elements that could mislead Internet users, making them believe that it was an official platform. Between its explicit URL, its advertising on search engines and the tricolor flag on its home page, the DGCCRF considered that it deliberately created confusion, making it appear that payment was obligatory to obtain this type of document.
However, the site may well highlight the “speed” of his service, the “safety of its procedure” and receipt of the document at home, with “satisfaction guaranteed”in reality it simply transmits the requests to the official public administration service, where these documents are accessible free of charge. It’s the official service that takes care of everything!
Fake administrative sites: watch out for scams
The conclusions of their investigation, transmitted to the public prosecutor, led to the signing of a settlement agreement. The company Administratis, owner of the siteétatcivilenligne.fr, was ordered to pay the State the sum of €120,000 and to modify its home page. The tricolor flag has therefore disappeared and a mention “Paid site independent of the administration” has been added. However, he always seeks to charge for procedures that can be done for free elsewhere.
To avoid being fooled by this type of site, you should acquire a few reflexes. First, remember to check the URL of the site. Official French administration sites always end with “.gouv.fr” or “.fr”. So be wary of extensions like “.org” or “.com”, which are not used by public services. Likewise, do not trust the first results of search engines, as these are often paid advertisements, and not necessarily official sites. Keep in mind that the use of blue-white-red or Marianne is not a guarantee of safety. Prefer to go directly to the service-public.fr portal!