Cognac chairman targeted by scam: identity fraud knows no limits, and that’s its trademark

he chairman of the Cognac marketing board (BNIC), Florent Morillon, has issued a call for vigilance after he was the target of identity fraud with the use of a fake Facebook account in his name: “People who received requests to become friends with ‘Florent Morillon’ on Facebook have warned me that an account was created, but it is not me”, Morillon said on LinkedIn. “I have seen its contents and noticed that there are many requests for donations, but it’s a scam!”

Contacted by Vitisphere, Morillon said he had filed a lawsuit for identity fraud on December 8, “to have the Facebook account in my name closed”. He has requested that Facebook’s parent company, Meta, shut down the account and commented that this was not the first time he had had to make the request – another account based in Africa also used his identity unlawfully and was banned. “The hackers use real photos that they find on the internet, build a page that seems totally life-like and therefore build confidence among those who ask to be friends. They then strike a chord with them by focusing on children or cancer, for example, asking for money through a fake crowdfunding account (making me a guarantor somewhere along the line)”, explains Morillon, who says he is not aware that any harm was done by the identity fraud this time.

In the world of online scams, identity fraud is just one of the techniques used: others include phishing to obtain confidential codes by email and fake orders in the name of a regular customer but for shipments to a different address so that the consignments can be stolen. “Internet fraud is manifold. We’re talking about millions of euros stolen”, comments a Charente police officer. He adds that in the Cognac region, “even the biggest companies are affected. They think they’re immune and are well-trained with teams of IT technicians, but everyone needs to be careful and use prevention strategies. We need to stop capital flight!”