Watch your bank statements well right now. Since the beginning of the year, many people have noted abusive samples from their account, each time the same strange wording.
The scam in the direct debit, if it is not new, seems to be exploding for some time. Last year, the SFAM, an insurance company for multimedia devices, hit the headlines by taking wild and all -out samples, to try to replenish its boxes. These fraudulent maneuvers will not have been enough, because the company and the whole group to which it belonged were the subject of a compulsory liquidation, following the countless complaints and prosecution which aimed at them.
Never mind, other players seem to decide to use the same recipes, in order to relieve their “customers” of sums which can very quickly increase. For the past few days, the signal-Arnacs community site, which lists scams of all kinds, has noted an increase in reports for unknown samples. Although they display different names and come from several companies, they all have one thing in common: the acronym “HPY” appears in their wording.
These three letters are the abbreviation of Hipay, a payment service provider for online merchants. This company, which is only a financial intermediary between a seller and a buyer, is therefore not directly responsible for the many strange samples reported in recent times. However, its online payment solution seems particularly popular with unscrupulous companies, which make it massive use to set up automatic samples.
If the shape varies slightly, the method is classic and always the same. A person buys something online, often a low -value service, and finds himself a few days later withdrawn from a much larger sum, several tens of euros. In the currently reported cases, it is for example the purchase of a Kbis extract on the sites Infosociete.Pro And SOCIETEDATA.NETor an automotive administrative service on the sites Center-automobiles.com Or Ab-auto.net.
Each time, victims made a first payment of only € 1.99, € 1.49 or € 0.99 to obtain a harmless document or service … without realizing that they actually subscribed to a much more salty monthly subscription. In the following days, the victims then noted withdrawals of € 29.90, € 39.90 and even € 49.90 in their bank account, under wording such as “HPY infosociete”, “HPY SOCIETE DATA” or “HPY*Ab-auto.net”.
To set up these samples, the sites in question proceed as follows: the service purchased is actually a subscription to a trial period for a much more expensive subscription, which automatically starts a few days after purchase. And obviously, this information is written in small character and absolutely not highlighted. If the method is not strictly illegal, it is in any case particularly unfair and at the limit of what could be called from the disguised sale.
So be particularly vigilant with this type of purchases of low online amount. Among the main types of services that serve as a cover for these masked subscriptions, Signal-Arnaques notably lists the file conversionthere Supply of documents like User noticesCV models and Termination lettersor concierge services. In general, do not pay for this kind of thing: there are free applications to convert files, and you will find free models of administrative documents on sites like Law- Fines.net.
If you have nevertheless completed this kind of purchase recently, then carefully monitor your account statements in the coming days and next few weeks. And if you notice an unknown sample whose wording contains the mention “HPY”, act quickly. First of all, immediately contact the company whose name appears on the levy, in order to terminate the subscription as quickly as possible. At the same time, contact your bank to revoke the debit mandate in place and avoid any future speed.
You can also try to obtain a refund of the sums already withdrawn, either from the service provider or from your bank. But in fact, there is little chance that you will gain their case, because even if the subscription conditions or the check box were very little visible at the time of payment, it will be considered that you validly authorized the levy. Caution and patience therefore during your purchases on the internet, because the sites can perfectly play with the limits of the law to make you buy without your knowledge.