5 Advices for YOUR Security, 1 important warning
Be alert for fraudulent accommodation offers
Do not get involved with fraudulent enterprises which offer non-existant accommodation on internet. Carefully avoid those internet sites that have demonstrated their illegality. Most of them are known. It is easy to avoid them.
Reed Midem, the official convention organizer, publishes the names of most fraudulent sites on its accommodation pages. The official site of the City of Cannes publishes the same list.
At the time of the Film Festival, the journalist, Andreas Wiseman, writing in the well-respected magazine Screen Daily, warned visitors to Cannes against fraudulent accommodation suppliers :
"Attention, never reply to publicity, contact, offers, etc. from companies on the following list:
Allen et Straton events, Concierge Plus Group, Euro Events, Premier Destinations, Global Living Group, The Ultimate Living Group, Riviera Network, Business Travel International, Splendor Global, Expo Travel Group, Euro Concierge Net, Euro Events Expo, ITC Today, Splendor Global, Universal Shows...
They are likely to contact you by email via fraudulent e-mailing campaigns. We frequently observe such practices, linked to the planning of events in Cannes. They represent scams aimed at swindling exhibitors and participants."
For many a long year, Cannes real estate professionals have been leading the fight to guarantee your security and improve your experience of staying in Cannes. Since the 19th century, Cannes has provided accommodation specialists recognized throughout the world for their professionalism, experts who have made an immense contribution to the global reputation of Destination Cannes. However, the development of the Internet and the rapidity of reservation systems, sometimes lead the unwary to imprudently overlook elementary rules of precaution. Internet scams are a reality. We are there to help you avoid the pitfalls.
Here is some sound advice on how to ensure you are never caught out.
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Is the address of the company you are talking to clearly identified?
If the address is not clearly visible on the site of the company offering you its services, do not go any further and certainly do not trust anything on that internet site.
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If the address is identified, is it located in Cannes or its immediate surrounding area?
When the company is not based in, or close to Cannes, be very careful – there is a very real possibility that it is a fraudulent operator. In any case, we strongly advise you never to deal with a company situated outside the Cannes region, unless of course that company and the services it offers have been recommended to you by someone whom you know personally.
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In every instance, are the Legal notices prominently and understandably displayed on the site?
In France, it is compulsory to provide the number under which the company is registered in the RCI, the Register of Commerce & Industry, on all legal documents and on all commercial on-line sites. If you cannot find the Legal Notices (Les Mentions Légales) on the internet site that you are consulting, place no trust whatsoever in the site. If the Register of Commerce number appears clearly on the site, verify that it is not a false number. The procedure is simple: copy and paste the name of the company or its RCI number on the official site Infogreffe and verify:
- that the address given corresponds precisely to that indicated on the company’s internet site
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that the company really exists
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Rely on your common sense and your gut feeling
If your contact has successfully survived these first 3 steps, you can now rely on your common sense and gut feeling. Here are a few extra tips to help reassure yourself about a previously unknown supplier:
- Does the telephone number provided answer genuinely to calls during French office hours, or is it in fact just an answering service?
- Do the photos presented on-line appear to represent real people or are they apparently from an image bank?
- Have you tapped the company name into your research motor and verified its reputation?
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Does the agency accept credit card payments? Fraudulent agencies don't accept credit cards.
Send email
If any doubts remain in your mind, take the time to e-mail a local professional organization or the convention organizer. The Cannes Tourist Office, or the organizer of the convention for which you are searching accommodation, will be pleased to help you find out if the company you have contacted for your reservation legally exists.
You can submit exactly the same request to Cannes-Rentals-Certification.
Cannes-Rentals-Certification will make no pronouncement about the quality of service you can expect from the company you have contacted, but it can carry out the research concerning its legal existence.