The incredible story of the scam that shook French football

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It all started on August 28, 2017, shortly before the end of the summer transfer window. A certain Patrick Montiel, presenting himself as the agent of footballer Florian Martin, contacted FC Sochaux-Montbéliard by email.

He indicated that the latter had changed his bank details and urged the club to register his information for a future payment. This was a classic phishing scam and the ploy worked. The scammer pocketed no less than 17,000 euros.

A global investigation

Far from stopping there, the latter then contacts many other teams and pockets a total of 63,586 euros. This cybercriminal network does not yet know it, but it has just launched a vast investigation that goes well beyond the world of football.

Little by little, in fact, the multiplication of attacks, often foiled, has ended up attracting attention. The Professional Football League (LFP) sends a warning message to clubs, while various investigations launched converge on the same perpetrator. The case is now called “Red Card”.

According to l’Équipe, the investigators then realized that this network had been operating since at least 2016 and that it had claimed many victims, well beyond the world of professional football. It targets individuals (often elderly people) whom it deceives by offering lucrative investments of 8%. The scam involves diamonds and cryptocurrencies with always the same disastrous end for the targets: their money disappears and they lose track of their contact.

In all, this business, which has ramifications in Israel, claimed 1,200 victims between 2016 and 2018 and brought in nearly 28 million euros. Playing on globalization, the scammers distributed the money to 199 bank accounts in 19 different countries. After 8 years of investigation, 22 defendants are currently being tried in Nancy in an XXL trial for organized fraud, organized money laundering and participation in a criminal association, our colleagues detail.

Scams are massive in France

Quoted by Libération, Guy Grandgirard, president of the Association for the Defense of Consumers of France, comments for his part: “This case illustrates the dangers associated with online investments, inflicting significant harm on many savers.”. Since 2018, “These scams have increased considerably”. Its organization indicates that it is currently managing “Currently more than 3,500 cases, with losses exceeding 400 million euros”.

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