Falsely starred hotels, no prices displayed… beware of scams as the Paris 2024 Olympic Games approach

The French Fraud Repression services have already identified “small problems.” Mystockimages/Getty Images

Homemade breakfasts which are not, falsely starred hotels or rooms at prices not displayed: as the Olympic Games approach, the French Fraud Repression services have already identified " small problems.

At this stage, findings of unfair practices mainly concern the hotel sector, this service dependent on the Ministry of the Economy, responsible for consumer protection, said on Friday.

But controls will "intensify in the run-up to and during the Olympic Games" to ensure that the information provided to consumers "will be reliable and that the products that will be sold will not be counterfeit or dangerous products", assured its director Sarah Lacoche during of a press conference.

"More than 4,000 checks were carried out" out of a total of around 10,000 planned"on the Olympic Games part", she added. The 2,900 agents of the General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) have their sights set on all kinds of OJ-2024 derivative products – some are tested in the laboratory to check their safety – , or products and sectors that may be of interest to foreign visitors.

What are the abuses identified ?

"The checks started at the start of the year because we wanted to see if the +goodies+ were compliant, and we had to do this. elsewhere identified the first small problems", explained Ms. Lacoche.

Anthology of the first abuses noted in hotels: absence of price display (at reception or in the room), falsely starred hotels, non-existent airport shuttle although&#39 ;displayed on the website or online publication of only good reviews while hiding the bad ones.

The SignalConso application which allows consumers to report this type of problem has been equipped with an English version for foreign visitors. They will be able to report problems such as overcharging for transport services, a non-compliant hotel room or a hidden service for example, which will allow the DGCCRF to more quickly detect fraud specifically targeting tourists.