Innocent Salesman Cleared After Viral Social Media Accusation of Fraud

The call for vigilance launched by the Internet user Julia S., to denounce people posing as Engie (formerly GDF-Suez) employees, backfired. She thought she was doing the right thing by alerting Internet users, but without counting on the consequences for the reputation of the person concerned.

On September 9, Julia, wanting to alert to the dangers of door-to-door canvassing, posted the photo and professional card of the young man, accusing him of "fraud" and calling him a "bastard".

The post was illustrated with a photo of the person’s face, accompanied by his name, Malik: "ATTENTION FRAUD. Equipped [sic] with a fake card, bastards are breaking into your home to scout and then come back to steal from you. Be vigilant [sic] and warn vulnerable people around you. Share," reports lemonde.fr.

As usual, the message spread massively on Facebook, reposted more than 100,000 times in twenty-four hours before being quickly deleted. And for good reason, the card was authentic but the insulted person was indeed a Ranger France and Engie salesman.

Yet, the company had proposed a series of recommendations to avoid such mishaps. Julia S., instead of making this post, should have verified Malik’s accreditation card, which bears mentions authorizing him to work for Engie.

The card was nominative and bore its year of validity, the Engie logo, the seller’s photo and the name of his company. So she could not have been so mistaken. A simple Internet search would have allowed the accuser to recognize the authenticity of the work card, acknowledges the same media.

Contacted by the same source, the Ranger France company, which was informed of the dissemination of this publication on Facebook, confirms that the young man accused of "fraud" and described as a "bastard" was working for one of its agencies. Ranger France deplores this "digital lynching" and calls on the responsibility of Internet users.

As for the salesman in question, he is considering filing a complaint while waiting to approach Ranger France and Engie to discuss the legal follow-up. The Internet user at the origin of this slanderous denunciation and the Engie company did not respond to the press inquiries, the same source notes.