Do you now have to pay to register as an AE???

[Fiona]

Hi, I have been meaning to register as an AE for the last couple of months and finally got round to doing it today.  However the online form linked to from www.autoentrepeneur.fr looks totally different (much simpler), but on page two it takes me to a pay screen and asks for payment of 79 euros??  Is this new?  Should I just go to the chamber of commerce and do it there??

thansk

[Chancer]

Possibly a scam site?

Try putting an L' before the web address : http://www.lautoentrepreneur.fr/

I think that this is the official site but havnt delved any further.

Judging by the amount of scam mail that new registered AE's get asking for payments for directorys etc I reckon this is just a more  elaborate one.

You would think that the French government would at least have reserved or seized the web address to prevent this.

Mind you loads of people have been receiving what looks like official letters and E-mails from les impôts telling them that they are due a rebate, my neighbour was scared to death that he may have made a mistake on his tax return.

[AnOther]

I think you are right, looks decidedly dodgey to me:

http://www.whois.net/whois/autoentrepeneur.fr.com

 

[Chancer]

[quote user="AnOther"]

I think you are right, looks decidedly dodgey to me:

http://www.whois.net/whois/autoentrepeneur.fr.com

[/quote]

It had to happen one day [;-)]

Looks like a usefull site but what amongst all the gobbledygook was it that alerted you that it may be a dodgy AE site?

I see that they are selling autoentrepenhopeur for £10, I wonder if I could register autoentrepenchancer?

[AnOther]

Several things, especially when compared to the Whois results for then genuine lautoentrepreneur.fr.

domain:      autoentrepeneur.fr
status:      ACTIVE
hold:        NO
holder-c:    ANO00-FRNIC
admin-c:     ANO00-FRNIC
tech-c:      OVH5-FRNIC
zone-c:      NFC1-FRNIC
nsl-id:      NSL30947-FRNIC
registrar:   OVH
anniversary: 05/02
created:     05/02/2009 **** Only created last year
last-update: 06/02/2010
source:      FRNIC

ns-list:     NSL30947-FRNIC
nserver:     dns14.ovh.net
nserver:     ns14.ovh.net
source:      FRNIC

registrar:   OVH
type:        Isp Option 1
address:     2 Rue Kellermann **** Strange address for an official French government web domain to be registered to.
address:     BP 80157
address:     ROUBAIX CEDEX 1
country:     FR
phone:       +33 8 99 70 17 61
fax-no:      +33 3 20 83 99 28
e-mail:      [email protected]
website:     http://www.ovh.fr
anonymous:   NO
registered:  21/10/1999
source:      FRNIC

nic-hdl:     OVH5-FRNIC
type:        ROLE
contact:     OVH NET
address:     OVH
address:     140, quai du Sartel
address:     59100 Roubaix
country:     FR
phone:       +33 8 99 70 17 61
e-mail:      [email protected]
trouble:     Information: http://www.ovh.fr
trouble:     Questions:  mailto:[email protected]
trouble:     Spam: mailto:[email protected]
admin-c:     OK217-FRNIC
tech-c:      OK217-FRNIC
notify:      [email protected]
changed:     11/10/2006 [email protected]
anonymous:   NO
obsoleted:   NO
source:      FRNIC

nic-hdl:     ANO00-FRNIC
type:        PERSON
contact:     Ano Nymous
remarks:     -------------- WARNING -------------- ****
remarks:     While the registrar knows him/her,
remarks:     this person chose to restrict access
remarks:     to his/her personal data. So PLEASE,
remarks:     don't send emails to Ano Nymous. This
remarks:     address is bogus and there is no hope
remarks:     of a reply.
remarks:     -------------- WARNING --------------
changed:     12/12/2009 [email protected] ****
anonymous:   YES
obsoleted:   NO
source:      FRNIC

[Fiona]

Now I am worried!  The site looked genuine, the form looked genuine - it was only when it got to the payment part that I wondered what was going on.  But then I thought maybe it's paying for an accountant or similar to help process your application.  I have entered my address, dob, social security number there!!!  What should I do?

 

[Chancer]

I dont know really other than to be vigilant and put it down to experience, I hope that you did not give them an RIB or anything financial.

AnOther, thanks for showing me what to look out for, I have to say that this: [email protected] does remind me of your username [;-)]

[P-D de Rouffignac]

This is really maddening, as several of these bogus or fee-paying sites are advertised on and have near-hijacked the web-name www.auto-entrepreneur.fr (note the hyphen), one of the first and best private information and discussion forums set up at the end of 2008. I believe it was recently sold by its founder and owner.

On the above site, the advice is to register with the CFE (centre des formalités d'entreprise) at your local Chamber of Commerce (for services, liberal professions, commercial activities), Chambre des Métiers, or URSSAF (commercial agents etc) as appropriate.

There are nonetheless at least two commercial sites advertising on the site, offering to do the job for you, for 79 and 89 euros respectively.

If in doubt, you can go onto the government website of apce (agence pour la création d'entreprise) for guidance and info.

P-D de R.  

 

[AnOther]

[quote user="Fiona"]

Now I am worried!  The site looked genuine, the form looked genuine - it was only when it got to the payment part that I wondered what was going on.  But then I thought maybe it's paying for an accountant or similar to help process your application.  I have entered my address, dob, social security number there!!!  What should I do?

 [/quote]Unfortunately there is little you can do now, you have given the information and you can't take it back. Best case is that it is just a scam to make you pay for something which you can do yourself for free.

Worst case is that it is malicious and out to both steal your money and harvest your bank or credit card details for cloning but thankfully you stopped short of giving them that. Your email address also has value to the spammers as they know it is a genuine one so your spam count will probably increase

The really bad news is that if it is malicious I would say there is a fair chance that they could try to use your personal info for identity theft but being British they might find this bit harder to do in France. In practical terms I think all you can do at this moment is be extra vigilant and keep a very close eye on your bank and credit card statements for any sign of fraud.

Good luck !

[Chancer]

On the positive side I am heartened to see that there are at least a few enterprising types in France [:-))]

I wonder if they themselves have registered as AE's ?