French courts and police warn of phone and SMS scams

The Tribunal judiciaire de Lyon has issued an alert after reports of fraudulent phone calls that impersonate the court. Callers use spoofed numbers, sometimes foreign VoIP lines, to claim the victim has missed a court summons and demand personal details such as name, identity‑card number and, in some cases, a Telegram installation. The court advises anyone receiving such a call to hang up immediately and verify the request by contacting the court directly at 04 72 60 70 12.

The Gendarmerie du Rhône has warned motorists about a separate scam involving fake toll‑payment SMS messages. The messages contain a link allegedly for an unpaid toll and urge the recipient to pay quickly, often creating a sense of urgency and using misspelled web addresses. Authorities urge people not to click the link, not to share banking details, and to verify any toll charges through the official highway operator’s website.