Moroccan Call Center Fined €50,000 for Solar Panel Scam Targeting French Residents

Posing as an "RGE study office" mandated by the government, the Ben-Mensah Call operators promised individuals assistance with the installation of solar panels after examining their bills.

Their real goal? Collect personal information on the victims of this scam. "They call from a 06 number that seems real," testifies Martin, a Rhodanian contacted by the scammers to the newspaper Le Progrès. "Then they make us talk for a long time to collect information about our address and our home, but if we ask them for their SIRET number to verify the existence of their office, there, they get angry and hang up."

The use of the RGE acronym, which stands for "Recognized Guarantor of the Environment", was intended to abuse the trust of individuals. This label is normally awarded to qualified craftsmen and companies in the field of energy renovation.

Following an investigation by the Departmental Directorate for the Protection of Populations of the Rhône (DDPP), the manager of Ben-Mensah Call was fined 50,000 €. This telemarketing is indeed prohibited in the energy renovation sector, particularly for the sale of equipment and the carrying out of work, as stipulated in Article L.223-1 of the Consumer Code.