• A swindle is: “the fact of deceiving a natural or legal person, either by the use of a false name or a false capacity, or by the abuse of a true capacity, or by the use of fraudulent manoeuvres, and thus determining, to his detriment or to the detriment of a third party, to hand over funds, securities or any other property whatsoever, to provide a service or to consent to an act giving rise to an obligation or discharge.

• A breach of trust is: “the fact that a person embezzles, to the detriment of another person, funds, securities or any property whatsoever which has been handed over to him and which he has accepted on condition that he return them, represent them or make a specific use of them”.

In contrast to a scam, the person misappropriates the money received for their own benefit. In most cases, the money was given voluntarily for a specific purpose. The failure to comply with the original purpose is subsequent.

• Abuse of weakness is : “the fraudulent abuse of the state of ignorance or weakness of either a minor or a person whose particular vulnerability, due to age, illness, infirmity, physical or mental deficiency or pregnancy, is apparent or known to the perpetrator, or a person in a state of psychological or physical subjection resulting from the exercise of serious or repeated pressure or techniques likely to impair his or her judgement, in order to lead this minor or this person to an act or abstention which is seriously prejudicial to him or her.

The victim, being in a weak position, was not able to detect the manoeuvres used against him/her or did not understand what he/she was committing to. The state of weakness must be proven (e.g. advanced age, poor health, poor understanding of the language). This weakness may be temporary (e.g. emergency situation) or permanent.

Time limit for filing a complaint

In principle, you have several years to file a complaint (in France, the limitation period is 6 years from the time of the offence or its discovery).

In other European countries, the limitation period may be shorter. Attention should be paid to these time limits. Once the statute of limitations has expired, it is no longer possible to file a complaint effectively. Our association will be able to advise you. In the event of fraud, you should not wait before taking action. Indeed, the delays of justice are long.

How to file a complaint?

Read our article on this subject.