France Cracks Down on Pension Fraud: Millions at Stake in Global Retirement Scandal

Hundreds of thousands of retirees will receive a letter from their bank inviting them to justify their entitlement to a retirement pension. This is the new strategy implemented by the supplementary pension scheme Agirc-Arrco, in order to combat fraud. There are 1 million of these retirees living abroad and receiving a French pension. According to a survey carried out by the Court of Auditors, the vast majority of these "exiled" retirees (77%) live in Algeria, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Morocco and Belgium.

"From 2025 onwards, in Algeria, 16% of retirees would be summoned annually, 97% of whom by an Algerian banking partner, a service provider for the Agirc-Arrco federation," writes the Court of Auditors. It plans to summon 60,000 retirees per year through this channel, which will make it possible to control all retirees residing in Algeria in six years. In total, 400,000 retirees will be summoned in six years by the retirees’ bank, a partner of Agirc-Arrco. Once summoned, they must attend to confirm their existence, under penalty of having their retirement suspended.

The controls will also be strengthened in other countries such as Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey. In addition to physical summons, new high-tech methods such as facial recognition via smartphone are planned to certify their existence. Computerized data exchanges should also take place between pension funds in different countries.

This unprecedented procedure implemented by Agirc-Arrco will be operational in the coming months and years. According to the National Old-Age Insurance Fund (CNAV), fraud on pensions paid abroad represents 50 to 60 million euros per year. "This is not a major issue in terms of public finances, but it will nevertheless strengthen confidence in the system. [...] The symbol is very important and it is all the more important, as we are asking our citizens for efforts and in the face of this we must be intransigent with those who try to defraud," justified Renaud Villard, Director General of the CNAV, last May on Franceinfo.

And to conclude: "Once again, this is not a major issue in terms of public finances, but it will nevertheless contribute, along with other public actions, to reducing the deficit and above all, it will strengthen confidence in the system."