By Alexandra Segond
Published on
See my news
“Ameli: your new vital card is available”: you may be one of those who have recently received this SMS. Yes health insurance seems to be the origin of this message, caution! It is actually a scam.
And you follow the indications of the message, you may never see the color of your new little green card, but rather have your data stolen.
Same logo, same slogan, same appearance
On the surface, the messages sent seem very normal. The name of the health insurance service, “Ameli”, is quoted and the message was sent from a French number – the indicator shows it +33.
On the other hand, the presence of spelling mistakes in some SMS can put doubt. This is indeed a recurring proof in these scam attempts.
The link provided could arouse some suspicionbecause it does not refer to the official health insurance website, ameli.fr. But it does have the words “assures” and “ameli,” and the beginning of the URL has an “s” for “secure” at “https,” suggesting a trustworthy site.
Despite doubts as to the origin of the message, I decided to play the imprudent card by entering the link of the SMS in the search bar of my browser from my computer. This first connection attempt ends in failure: for security measures, impossible to go further, alerts me to a message in red.

Another try, this time from my phone. I am redirected to a site. Same logo as Health Insurance, same slogan “Acting together, protecting everyone”, same appearance: it would be mistaken to have been redirected to the Social Security site.

On the site, a message welcomes you: “The updating of the vital card must be done annually by its beneficiaries. This operation updates entitlements and guarantees efficient coverage of healthcare expenses more quickly. »
The rest of the message asks you to follow several steps to update your vital card or apply for a renewal “in a practical, easy and secure way. » Understand: enter your first and last names, your date of birth, then your email, your postal address… And so on to your bank details.
A free pharmacy update
For its part, Health Insurance denies being the source of these fraudulent messages. If your vital card must actually be updated every yearall you have to do is go to most pharmacies or health insurance reception centers to use the terminals available.
You never have to communicate your banking information: this update operation is indeed completely free.
If you cannot physically go to these terminals, contact your health insurance fund directly, either via your Ameli account or by telephone on 36 46.
Resurgence of fraud
However, you can perfectly receive calls or SMS from the Health Insurance – if only for two years, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, to inform you of a positive screening test and give you the quarantine instructions to follow.
The Health Insurance SMS may contain links to information pages on the ameli.fr site, or to the declare.ameli.fr service or to the ameli account, which you can access using your login credentials.

But if you receive messages asking you to communicate medical, personal or banking informationagain, run away! There is a good chance that you are victim of a phishing attempt (“ Phishing ” in English).
And be extra vigilant in the future: Health Insurance has noted an upsurge in fraud since the start of the health crisis. Recently, the personal data of around 500,000 French people have been stolen from the Sécuwho has since hired lawsuits criminal.
Was this article helpful to you? Note that you can follow Actu in the My Actu space. In one click, after registration, you will find all the news of your favorite cities and brands.