“Paris Mayor Guides You to the Best Craftsmen in the City. Get Help, Not Scammed.”
This is a flyer that can be found displayed in numerous building lobbies, and that hundreds, if not thousands, of Parisians have likely found in their mailboxes. We ourselves have seen it in different districts. On this small cardboard flyer, about ten centimeters in size, the large logo of the City of Paris can be seen, along with images of faucets, heaters, and showers, and a series of home repair numbers (door opening, plumbing, electricity, locksmithing…) mixed with the very official numbers of the Paris City Hall and the prefecture of police. However, the logo here is completely counterfeit, and the flyer leads to scams, contrary to what is promised.
“There are thousands of flyers of this type in all Parisian mailboxes, with varying degrees of resemblance to the logo or the French national colors,” explains the Paris prosecutor’s office. According to the city hall, there are currently five flyers of this type in circulation, printed in large quantities, “overall the same and probably by the same network.” Their strategy is to flood neighborhoods for several weeks to reach all mailboxes, particularly those in the outer districts.
Jacques (name changed), a caretaker in the 19th arrondissement, whose lodge displays the famous “City of Paris” labeled flyer, once witnessed one of these scams when a resident of the building accidentally let his door close behind him. The fake repairman then demanded an exorbitant amount in cash. “It was the same kind of flyer, true, blue and white,” he recalls, before removing this misleading advertisement from his wall.
800 reports each year
“Unfortunately, this type of scam is quite regular,” laments Nicolas Nordman, deputy for security at the Paris City Hall. The Departmental Directorate for the Protection of the Population (DDPP), which is responsible for ensuring compliance with consumer rights by businesses and falls under the jurisdiction of the Paris Police Prefecture, “receives more than 800 consumer reports each year regarding the home repair sector,” according to the city hall. The city specifies that “the denounced practices mostly involve perceived abusive pricing, unnecessary work, intimidation attempts, or false promises of coverage by home insurance.” 38 official reports have been filed in 2021.
But these methods are far from new. The Paris City Hall initiated legal proceedings against this type of fraud as early as 2007. Since then, communication campaigns have followed, such as in 2017 and 2018.
A Web page to inform Parisians
To fight against these scams, the administration first tries to compile solid files, not merely based on identity or logo theft, in other words. “We don’t respond to each case individually. For a complaint to be followed up by the prosecutor’s office and for us to be able to dismantle a certain number of networks, the complaint needs to be as well-documented as possible,” explains Nicolas Nordman.
The city hall’s strategy also focuses on prevention, by informing Parisians as much as possible. The city recently updated its website, particularly the page “Stop Scams by Home Repair Companies!” This page reminds that the “Law of March 17, 2014 (known as the Hamon Law) prohibits the use of drawings, contact information, references, or other distinctive signs related to a public service without prior authorization from the relevant service. Failure to comply with these obligations is punishable by an administrative fine (up to 100,000 euros).”
Internet users are invited to report any flyers that seem suspicious to them on the government’s Signal Conso website. In an awareness-raising flyer, the General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control emphasizes the need to prioritize “using professionals recommended by acquaintances, professional federations, or previously identified,” and to demand “a written and detailed estimate” before any intervention. And it concludes: “Do not sign any estimate that seems excessive to you.”
