On March 23, Luc Le Baron, breakdown repairer and vice president of the breakdown service branch of the Mobilians trade union, warned motorists about “fake breakdown repairers”. These fraudsters have already caused several dozen victims on French highways. But how do they do it?
Be careful who comes to help you on the highway. While in the emergency stop lane, due to a breakdown or after an accident, some motorists have seen recovery companies arrive in record time. The problem: these companies are neither mandated by the police nor the insurance of the motorist in question.
It was precisely in the face of this phenomenon that Luc Le Baron, vice president of the troubleshooting branch of the Mobilians trade union, sounded the alarm at the microphone of our colleagues at Radio Sud on March 28. According to Numérama, the invoices of these fake shops are sometimes in the order of thousands of euros.
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Bills up to 10x more expensive
Specifically, in the event of a breakdown, you contact the police, your insurance company or the highway assistance service at the terminal designated for this or on your phone. But at the same time, other motorists (or you) can report the presence of your vehicle in the emergency lane to the Waze application.
And that’s where fake tow trucks come in. Using Waze, they spot vehicles that need help and arrive before official services. Unsuspecting, some motorists are then picked up by bogus repairers who often present them with a hefty bill, sometimes 10 times more than the usual rates.
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If the customer cannot pay the required amount, they can keep their car until they give it up. To the extent that it was not the authorized company that intervened, the victims of this scam are trying to get compensation.
Always check the identity of the repairer
To avoid fraud, Luc Le Baron recommends always asking for the name of the company that will perform the operation over the phone so that you can confirm their identity upon arrival. The aim is to enable the customer to distinguish between a fictitious company and the one actually mandated by the insurance.
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Some tow truck operators call drivers to clarify their identity and time of arrival. However, some rogue companies manage to convince motorists that they are authentic through the discussion thread, often pretending that the official company has experienced a delay or obstacle. Therefore, it is recommended to always be alert on the road.