Be vigilant and check your statements carefully in the coming days: a company domiciled abroad is currently carrying out illegal withdrawals… from French bank accounts!
Some unscrupulous companies have made a specialty of illegal bank withdrawals. In this area, the Indexia group and its various companies, notably Sfam, have been in the news for several years. Its president Sadri Fegaier will also be tried soon, as part of an investigation targeting him and his former companies for deceptive commercial practices. Former, because fortunately the entire Indexia group was placed in receivership at the end of April, preventing it from fraudulently taking money from its former customers.
However, as reported by theUFC-Que Choisir under the pen of Cyril Brossetseveral people have had the unpleasant surprise of discovering new abusive withdrawals from their bank accounts in recent days. In the testimony cited, the victim explains that she blocked just in time a withdrawal of €44.99 for an obscure “Premium Pack”, to which she had of course never subscribed. The method is furiously reminiscent of the dubious practices of the old companies in the Indexia galaxy.
But this time, it is Equestrian Cup that is in question, a concierge and gift box services company domiciled in… Belgium. What does this have to do with Indexia? On the one hand, all the people who had an unauthorized withdrawal from Equestrian Cup seem to be former customers of the group’s companies (Sfam, Hubside Store), and on the other hand, the Belgian company is said to have taken over the operations of Serena… one of the Indexia companies liquidated last April!
But how can this company registered in Belgium, which has never had any contact with Serena’s French customers, set up automatic withdrawals from their accounts? The method could be as follows: the company digs into the files of ex-customers and “by mistake” opens a new contract in their name. It then sends a “signed” SEPA direct debit mandate to the victim’s bank, who then finds himself debited without his knowledge and has no choice but to contest the transaction after the fact.
Given the current state of the regulations, it is unfortunately very difficult to protect against this type of abuse. As long as banking institutions do not offer strong authentication for setting up direct debits, as is the case for online purchases with the sending of a code by SMS or confirmation on an application, consumers will be vulnerable to this type of practice.
In conclusion, if you have been a customer of one of the companies in the Indexia group (Sfam, Hubside Store, Serena, etc.), and even if you have terminated all contracts with these companies several years ago, be on your guard. From now on and during the coming weeks, check your bank account daily to identify any strange transfers, with dubious titles and unknown origins. And in the event of a strange transaction, contact your bank immediately to block it and obtain a refund.