The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) called on Monday the savers “to the biggest vigilance” on proposals of investment in the energy transition, as “eco-parkings”.
The AMF has recorded in 2022 “more than a hundred complaints and reports”, as well as “about fifty requests” from investors wondering about this type of investment, particularly via its platform AMF Epargne Info Service, explains the authority in a statement.
The losses suffered by the savers are “high”, she judges, on average 70,000 euros. The results are far from the “high rates of return”, between 6 and 12%, and the “secure investments” touted by “false commercial brochures”.
These offers are based on current trends in green finance: photovoltaic power plants operated in Europe, “hydrogen passbook” or “eco-parks”, i.e. parking spaces with electric charging stations, she says.
The AMF had already warned in 2020 about scams related to investments in parking spaces.
Often, these fraudulent offers “usurp the identity of known groups” and sometimes put forward “a so-called capital guarantee” by the Bank of France or the European Central Bank, the AMF also warns.
Savers are generally solicited by email or telephone, after having filled in their details in contact forms on the internet or having discovered the offers on social networks.
But, “shortly after making the transfers, the victims are no longer able to reach the false advisors or recover their funds,” reports the authority responsible for protecting savings invested in financial products.
Finally, the AMF reminds us of the “rules of vigilance” with regard to investments, in particular not to give in to pressure from interlocutors or to the urgency before investing, to be wary of “promises of quick gains without compensation” and reminds us that “usurpations are frequent, numerous and easy to carry out”.
