With the advent of the Internet, social communication networks have experienced considerable growth. Who today has not already used online auction sites such as Ebay or Paypal. Parallel to this outbreak, social engineering has been deployed at the same pace so that scammers are legion on the web. Today we give you some recommendations to avoid falling into the traps of these modern fraudsters who are as numerous as they are well organized.

What is phishing?

Phishing or phishing is a computer technique used by fraudsters to steal personal information from Internet users (complete identity, access credentials to a website, bank card number, etc.) with the aim of perpetrating data theft. ‘identify. As its English name suggests, phishing is a kind of fishing for victims via communication networks.

What are the techniques?

One of the main characteristics of phishing is that the fraudster does not trap his victims individually but collectively. It simultaneously contacts thousands or even millions of potential victims by trying to impersonate their bank or their Internet service provider, for example. The fraudster relies on this large number to find gullible or unwary recipients.

In practice, the Internet user receives a message from his bank or another company which informs him of a security problem requiring him to go to the site concerned and which invites him to click on a link. hypertext. However, this link does not lead to the official site but to an imitation often identical to the original controlled by a malicious individual, so if the Internet user clicks on the link and enters information it will be transmitted directly to the scammer.

Our recommendations

The best advice we can give you is to never click on hyperlinks contained in an unsolicited message asking the recipient to provide sensitive or confidential data, even if it appears to come from a known sender. If in doubt, prefer to check the reality of the request by telephone with the company concerned or go to the website of this company by manually entering its address in your browser, so as not to risk clicking on a booby-trapped or leading link. to a booby-trapped web page.

In the event of proven theft:

• Immediately connect to the real website of the company whose identity has been stolen and change your password to prevent your account from being hijacked;
• File an opposition with your banking organization to block your credit card;

The guarantee is personal security par excellence. It aims to add alongside the main debtor of the credit a third person (guarantee) who undertakes, under certain conditions, to intervene on behalf of the debtor in the event of difficulties in repaying the credit. A few words of explanation.

Notion

To act as guarantor for someone means to undertake to pay for them if they do not pay their debt themselves. The guarantor is a natural or legal person (such as a financial institution) who contractually undertakes vis-à-vis a creditor to pay if the debtor defaults on the due date.

Any person can act as guarantor if they are recognized as capable and of course solvent.

The guarantor must be aware that he is committing his own assets to repay a debt contracted by a third party (the debtor), if this third party does not respect his commitment.

Types of surety

A distinction is made between simple and joint guarantees:

• In the simple guarantee, the creditor must first sue the principal debtor and in the event of multiple guarantors, the debt will be distributed in proportion to the guarantors;
• In joint and several guarantees, the creditor can immediately sue the guarantor(s) for the entire debt.

In practice, the creditor has every interest in providing his debtor with a joint and indivisible guarantee.

The guarantee of a consumer credit

Guarantee information

The lender must inform the guarantor:

• of the amount that is guaranteed: the security is only worth this amount plus late payment interest. To this end, a copy of the credit contract must be given in advance and free of charge by the lender to the guarantor;
• When the borrower is late in paying two installments or at least one fifth of the total amount to be repaid;
• Payment facilities granted to the consumer.

Conditions for acting against the surety

The borrower must be in default of payment by at least two installments. In this case, the credit contract will be terminated and the borrower registered with the National Bank of Belgium.

Amount and duration of the deposit

In a credit contract concluded for an indefinite period, the guarantee:

• cannot cover a period that exceeds 5 years;
• can only be renewed at the end of the period with the express agreement of the guarantor.

Free security

Free security covers the situation of a person who commits himself to the principal debtor without obtaining the slightest financial benefit.

Since December 1, 2007, the free deposit is only valid subject to compliance with certain legal conditions:

• A contract separate from the initial credit contract;
• The duration must be indicated in the guarantee document;
• The guaranteed amount must be mentioned;
• The contract must include written statements in the hand of the guarantor: ” by providing security for…within the limit of the sum of…(in figures) covering the payment of principal and interest for a period of…I undertake to repay the creditor of…the are owed on my property and on my income if, to the extent that…does not satisfy them himself”;
• The guarantor’s commitment must be proportional to his ability to repay;
• The obligations of the heirs are limited to their respective share in the inheritance;
• The creditor must inform the surety about the performance of the main obligation. He must do this at least once a year in case of regular execution;

The use of false documents in order to obtain credit is relatively rare but unfortunately it is not completely absent from our professional practice. It is above all a criminal offense which can lead to legal proceedings and have unfortunate consequences. A few words of explanation.

Who are the people producing false documents?

In general, these are people who are already over-indebted and who know full well that they will no longer obtain credit. These are also people who absolutely need money and who have already been refused on the basis of their documents. In general, these are people in worrying financial situations.

Simulate your credit online

Forgery – use of forgery and attempted fraud in Belgian criminal law

Article 196 of the Belgian Penal Code punishes with imprisonment of 5 to 10 years any person who commits forgery of private documents:

• Either by false signatures,
• Either by counterfeiting or alteration of writings or signatures,
• Either by manufacturing agreements, provisions, obligations or discharges or by their insertion after the fact in the acts,
• Either by addition or alteration of clauses, declarations or facts that these acts were intended to receive or note.

Counterfeiting is inevitably accompanied by fraud or attempted fraud. Fraud is punishable by correctional imprisonment of one month to 5 years under article 496 of the Belgian Penal Code.

The credit application

When you submit a credit request, you will be obliged when signing your contract to provide our brokers with certain official documents such as:

• Your identity card
• Your employment contract
• Your salary slips
• Bank account statements
• Your residence card

Our brokers check all your documents with the private and public authorities who issued them. You do not receive your money until these internal checks have taken place.

Our brokers are seasoned and have the experience necessary to detect fakes quickly.
Simulate your credit online

If false documents are produced, your credit contract is blocked and your money will not be paid into your account of course. We are of course obliged to transfer your file to the Crown Prosecutor’s Office where you live. In this case, you will be prosecuted before the criminal court of the judicial district in which your residence is located.

What are the most common fakes?

The fakes we encounter most frequently affect:

• Salary slips
• Employment contracts

Committing a forgery is not a solution

Very often people increase the amount of their salary on their pay slip. Besides the fact that our brokers quickly notice this because this amount does not correspond to the bank account statements, the forger puts himself in a financial situation that is not viable.

He would end up no longer being able to repay his credit and end up being registered with the BNB.

Chat with our brokers

If you are experiencing financial difficulties, we encourage you to discuss with our brokers. If you need money and your credit application is refused, there are different solutions:

• Carry out a credit consolidation or repurchase
• Make a smaller credit and the following year a consolidated additional credit: if the reimbursement of your first premium went well, you will obtain the supplement within the year.

Here are already two negotiable solutions which should allow you to get out of a difficult moment.