Beware of fraudulent investments in the energy transition, warns the AMF

In 2022, the AMF recorded "more than a hundred complaints and reports", as well as "about fifty requests" from savers wondering about this type of investment, in particular via its AMF Epargne Info Service platform, explains the authority in a press release.

The losses suffered by 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 surfing on current trends in green finance: photovoltaic power plants operated in Europe, "hydrogen booklet" or even "eco-parking", that is to say parking spaces with electric charging stations, lists she.

The AMF had already alerted in 2020 to 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 Banque de France or the European Central Bank, also alerts the AMF.

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, "soon after having made the transfers, the victims no longer manage to reach the false advisers or to recover their funds", relates the authority responsible for the protection of savings invested in financial products.

Finally, the AMF recalls "rules of vigilance" with regard to investments, in particular not to give in to pressure from interlocutors or to urgency before investing, to be wary of "promises of quick gains without compensation" and recalls that "the usurpations are frequent, numerous and easy to carry out".