List of scams sent to new entrepreneurs in France

By Valérie Aston on 7 December 2019 · Viewed 3362 times · Questions

One of my customers unwilling paid what looked like an official invoice this week, but actually was a scam aimed at confused entrepreneurs. By the time he emailed me a copy, the cheque was gone and we could not do much about it (apart from contacting the bank to block the cheque)! It is already tough to start a business in France, especially if your French is more conversational than adapted to complex paperwork. So having to figure out what is official or not is a nightmare or casse-tête.

The good news is that I am currently finishing off an online training on “How to manage your micro-entrepreneur set up paperwork”. You can subscribe here to be informed when it is released soon.

In the meantime, I have listed for you the most common scams sent to new entrepreneurs in France. These are promotional offers designed to look like invoices for compulsory services or compulsory business directories.

11 most common scams sent to new entrepreneurs in France

  • Identification Legale
  • Inforegistre
  • Info Service Siren
  • InfoSiren
  • Infos-siren
  • Journal Légal
  • Kbis Entreprises
  • Kbis Infos
  • Registre APE (Annuaire Professionnel des Entreprises)
  • Registre des Sociétés et des Indépendants
  • Répertoire des Entreprises et des Sociétés

You are getting the idea... they are using words which appear on your official business papers such as Siren, Siret or registre.

Scams designed to look like compulsory business directories

  • Registre Commerces
  • Registre des créations
  • Registre Des Professionnels
  • Registre des Sociétés
  • Répertoire du commerce et des entreprises
  • Registre Insee
  • Registre Internet Français
  • Registre National des Indépendants
  • Registre Numérique du Commerce et des Entreprises
  • Registre Officiel
  • Registre Siren
  • Registre Siret
  • Répertoire National des Entreprises
  • Enregistrement Intracommunautaire
  • Notification Discretionnaire by Registre des societies europeennes

Less common scams sent to new entrepreneurs in France

  • Les Affiches Légales
  • ORCIS - Office de régulation du commerce intracommunautaire et des sociétés
  • CNE - Centre National Entreprises
  • CIRNES - Caisse Intracommunautaire de Régularisation des Nouvelles Entreprises et des Sociétés
  • ANRCS Agence Nationale du Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés
  • France Annuaire
  • Infograph Europe
  • IPT Registre
  • Services Entreprises Intracommunautaire
  • Télédéclaration service

Here we are, I must have saved you about 2,000 euros! If not, I hope that I will have saved you some stress and hassle.


Valerie Lemiere: Start Business in France

About the author: Valérie Aston

I've been helping people who want to start or already have a small business set up in France since 2009. After graduating from a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, I worked as a senior marketing consultant in the UK and France for various International companies. I worked as a conseillère en création d'entreprises (senior business advisor) for BGE here in France and run this independent business on a daily basis.