Category: Web/Tech

I WAS recently sat reading when my mobile phone ‘pinged’ to notify me of a message, I glanced across and could see it was from Assurance Maladie.

Or so it was claimed.

When I read it properly my scam detectors kicked off and went on red alert, the message said I had to renew my carte Vitale before 2 August, 2022 and to do so I had to visit a website.

This was what the message looked like on my mobile phone:

And the text message said:

Assurance MaIadie:

RenouveIIement obligatoire de votre Carte VitaIe à effectuer avant le 02/08/2022.

Rendez-vous vite sur:

ameIi-sante.com/r/ameIi

The website featured whilst looking like it is from Assurance Maladie redirects to a website run by the scam artists asking for personal details and banking information.

If you receive similar delete the message straight away.

The official Assurance Maladie website, https://www.ameli.fr/ has a page that highlights the different methods and techniques that scammers have used to try and trap unsuspecting users to hand over personal information.

Such scams, also known as phishing, or hameçonnage in French, have been on the rise since the outbreak of the Covid epidemic, as people have become a little more edgy about all things health.

Example scam messages

On the Assurance Maladie webpage providing details of the scams they say they will never ask for information such as log-in details or tax reference numbers.

There is also a section that features examples of the scam messages they have seen themselves and which if you have received you should delete straight away, some read:

• Compte Ameli : Après la dernière vérification de votre dossier d’assurance maladie, nous avons déterminé que vous recevrez un remboursement de 506.90 euros. Veuillez remplir votre formulaire de remboursement et confirmez-le via le lien ci-dessous : https: //bit.ly/xx
• Votre nouvelle carte vitale est disponible. Veuillez remplir le formulaire afin de continuer à être couvert via le site : https: //bit.ly/xx
• Assurance Maladie : Expiration de votre carte vitale, à mettre à jour impérativement. Ci-dessous:ameli-sms. com
• Assurance maladie : Votre carte vitale arrive à expiration, veuillez remplir le formulaire de renouvellement sous 48h via : www. vitale-assurance-login.com

Never click on any links in these types of messages, or similar ones you might receive via email, as it is possible to mask website addresses so that it looks legitimate on the screen but which forwards you to another website.

And these websites are often copycat style sites, using graphics and a similar layout to the official site, but which will ask you to log-in and provide information, that can then be swiftly used against you.

Log-in to Assurance Maladie direct

If you do need to contact Assurance Maladie then type the full address out in your web browser and then log-in to your online account to contact them directly.

And if you have handed over any bank details and only realised that it was a scam a little later, get in touch straight away with your bank and tell them what has happened.

Keep your cool with scams

As you can see from the message I received, and the other example above, the scammers are hoping to create a bit of anxiety with offers of reimbursement, deadline dates and phrases that prompt a sense of urgency.

But keep your cool, delete the message and get on with your day – now back to my book.

AMAZON France has announced that it is to increase the annual price of its Prime subscription service from 49 € to 69,90 €, an increase of just over 42%.

If you pay monthly then you will also see a spike in price, from 5,99 € to 6,99 €, this is an increase of just under 17%.

Amazon France has said that the increase in fees has been caused by a rise in the costs of running the Prime service, and I would imagine that covers increases in packaging and transportation costs.

Amazon France Prime improvements

In an email announcing the Prime price increase, Amazon France said it has worked to offer a better service and looked to increase the range of products covered by the next day Prime delivery service.

They also say that the range of video, reading and music titles on offer will be improved, with more series and original programmes promised as well as continued access to the French Open at Roland-Garros, but an additional subscription will still be necessary to watch the Ligue 1 football.

Amazon France has said the increased fees will be brought in as members’ contracts come up for renewal from 15 September 2022.

Amazon UK Prime increase

UK users of Amazon Prime have also seen prices rise, although the percentage increases are smaller, the monthly fee has risen by 12.5% and the annual cost has increased by 20%.

Cancel Amazon France Prime

If you think this price increase is too much and you want to cancel your Prime subscription then you will need to log in to your Amazon account and then continue through to the Prime section.

There you will be able to see when your subscription runs out plus there is an option to be sent a reminder three days before the date, giving you a change to think about whether you want to cancel Prime or not.

IF you use a French mobile phone operator, or any other from the EU, then you will be able to make calls, text and surf abroad without paying extra charges for another ten years.

The EU has improved its mobile roaming regulations, its so-called ‘Roam-like-at-home’ scheme, promising travellers in the EU and the EEA no additional charges for using their EU-based operators across borders.

British travellers fall outside these protections and so many people will face increased roaming charges for using their mobile phones whilst travelling in France and other EU countries.

However, people in the EU who plan to travel to the UK should check with their own operators if there are any additional charges for using calls, text or the internet once over the Channel.

EU roaming rules

The Roam-like-at-home scheme will be in operation until 2032 and one of the newest rules will ensure that people receive the same internet speeds when they are using their phone at home as when they are travelling in other EU countries.

So if your phone operates using 4G, or in some cases 5G, when at home if those speeds are available in the country you are travelling to then you are entitled to the same speeds and will not have to put up with a second class service.

Roaming surcharges

Another new development from the scheme protects mobile phone users from being hit with surcharges whilst travelling on a plane or boat.

Phones can automatically connect to satellite based networks resulting in steep charges for people who are unaware their phones have connected to the internet.

The EU has asked that mobile phone operators notify their customers if they connect to a satellite based network and that services are automatically halted should charges reach €50 or another predefined limit.

Emergency 112 number

The new rules also ask that operators make customers more aware of the 112 number that offers access to emergency services across the EU.

So that from June 2023 people will receive a text message when travelling across borders highlighting the emergency number and advising them how they can contact the authorities if in danger.

LA POSTE is promising a digital stamp service that will let you write a code on your envelope and pop it straight into a post box for delivery.

The digital stamps will be available from next year and work via a mobile phone app that will create a short code of a mix of numbers and letters.

Then you write this code in the top right hand corner of your envelope – replacing the need for an ‘old fashioned’ stamp – before placing it in a post box.

Eco green stamp equivalent

The service will cover letters weighing less than 20 g and be charged at the same rate as the current Eco green stamps, currently €1,16, and will arrive at its destination two days later.

Developers have produced a system using algorithms to combat potential fraud and camera equipment installed in postal sorting offices will be able to read the hand written codes.

Don’t worry, normal stamps will still be available and the digital stamps come as part of a plan announced by La Poste to offer more services, despite them now delivering only a third of what they did fifteen years ago.

The postal service across France will see increased investment, totalling €800 million, in equipment such as digital screens and parcel collection points, with agreements signed with postal staff unions to boost job openings and provide training and support on the new technologies.

ROAMING charges on mobile phones are set to make a comeback for many UK holidaymakers in France, or for those people who still use a UK sim card whilst living here.

With our day-to-day lives increasingly reliant on using mobile phones, simple tasks such as checking restaurant websites, booking event tickets or backing up photographs from your phone could see you face ‘bill shock’ a couple of weeks later.

Brexit, and the failure of the UK and the EU to come to an agreement on data use across borders has allowed mobile phone companies in the UK to reintroduce roaming charges that cover regular calls, text messages and internet data use.

Before you even set foot in France I would check what your SIM card provider is currently saying about the payment plan you are on, as many companies seem to have split customers into different groups.

Roaming charges in France

For example, Vodafone customers who signed up with the company after 11 August 2021, or if you updated or changed your plan after this date, and you’re not on a plan with 4 Xtra benefits will face a charge of £2 per day to use your phone for data, calls and texts.

Three are using 1 October 2021 as their cut off date, before this you can use your daily allowance at no extra cost, but you can only use up to 12GB of data, which will come out of your allowance.

If you signed up with Three, or changed your plan after 1 October, then you will have to pay a daily charge of £2 to unlock your UK allowance for 24 hours’ use in France.

Clear and simple it is not.

UK mobile phone companies currently have a £45 (excluding VAT) per month cap on data roaming charges, and you should receive an alert message when you reach 80% of your data allowance and then another once you have exhausted the limit completely.

Beyond this point, providers must stop charging for data roaming unless you opt-in to continue.

How to avoid roaming charges in France

1. Double, and triple check, what your current contract with your mobile phone company provides you with if you intend to use your phone in France.

If you have not already I would install the company app that should let you manage and measure data usage whilst overseas, you can always delete it once back in the UK.

2. Learn how to turn off data roaming within your mobile phone settings, it can usually be found under Network or Mobile Data.

If you don’t have a deal offering data use overseas then I’d make sure it is turned off before you leave the UK, you don’t want your phone trying to connect whilst in your pocket as you arrive in France.

3. Use wifi to access websites, download email and WhatsApp friends and family when in France.

This is much easier than it was especially as most gites and holiday homes now have speedy internet access, whilst many restaurants, museums and visitor centres will provide internet access as well.

4. You can cut your phone off any data connection, including wifi, by going into Airplane mode and this again is an option found in settings.

But you can still listen to music stored on your phone, take photographs and use apps that don’t require a data connection to work.

5. Ensure you are manually updating apps, or that backups such as photographs are only using wifi, because most phones are constantly downloading new messages, checking for updates and eating through your data allowance without you being fully aware.

6. Download maps in advance whilst using regular wifi, and it is a useful option in France as data coverage can sometimes be a bit patchy in the more offbeat areas of the countryside.

Google Maps allows you to download an area direct to your mobile phone so you can still track down places without any signal, although up to the minute traffic info won’t be available.

And whilst you are doing this, pick up an ‘old skool’ map book to stick in the car.

Bottom line on roaming charges

It is a major frustration that people will have to make some preparations in advance of travelling to France to avoid the risk of a hefty bill from their mobile phone company following a holiday away.

Just be aware of how your mobile phone is set up to ensure it doesn’t connect to networks if you don’t have a special deal, and get up-to-date with the costs of what your mobile phone company now charges.

Ultimately, if you have any doubts turn off data roaming and stick to wifi access – and don’t forget to enjoy the peace and quiet of not being ‘always on’.

THE French authorities have launched the FR-Alert messaging system via mobile phones to send warnings about the weather, terrorist attacks and other life threatening dangers.

FR-Alert has been developed in partnership with French mobile phone operators and in time you may get a first message advising you of the launch of the service.

The system will work on a regional basis covering dangers such as flooding and storms, as well as possible chemical leaks, health warnings, severe road accidents, travel incidents and even possible terrorist incidents.

A key feature of FR-Alert is that it will work on a localised basis, ensuring people don’t get messages that are a long way from where they live, with the hope that people will take note when they do receive one.

Warning messages will provide advice and information on any steps you need to take, such as whether you should stay at home or evacuate the area.

Naturally the messages will be provided in French, but the authorities say that other languages will be provided should a dangerous event take place in an area that has a high foreign tourist population.

You will not need to download an application to your phone, the messages will come directly to your device, but they will not be able to bypass Airplane mode if it is set on your phone.

Updating iPhone for FR-Alert

For my own iPhone SE, which the screen grab above is from, I first updated the operating system on my phone to iOS 15.5.

Once this is complete you can then go into Settings > Notifications and scroll down the page to a section titled FR-ALERT where you will see the recognisable green slide buttons that allow you to turn on or off the notifications.

Interestingly despite my phone being set up to use the French language, the section is in English, and whilst messages about kidnapping alerts of young children are self-explanatory, I could not find out more about what the different threat levels mean.

Phones using the Android based operating system do not require an update and the FR-Alert section can also be found under the notifications section of settings.

EXPLORE the France of yesteryear via British Pathé and YouTube after thousands of news clips from the past were put online.

British Pathé has put its entire archive of videos, totaling 3,500 hours of content and 85,000 videos on YouTube letting people explore historic content from both World Wars, famous faces and hidden corners of the past.

A search for France related videos turns up many political and sporting clips, with rugby, football and athletic matches prominent.

But you can also find clips of parts of France that look very different to the country of today, including the one above of canoeists paddling down a very choppy river Dordogne.

Other interesting videos include:

Launch of the SS Ile de France, weighing 40,500 tons, the biggest ship in France in 1926.

A rich grape harvest in Champagne from 1948.

IF you go down to the woods today, make sure you are not surprised and use a smartphone app to help you improve your tree-spotting skills.

The Clés de Forêt is available on the iPhone and Android based systems, and it enables you to discover more than 30 of the principle trees found in the forests of France.

An update has also provided information on spotting some of the birds and animals you might spot when in the woods, or at least some of the tell-tale signs of them having passed by.

You are helped in your search by going through a check-list of observations, such as the shape and position on the branches of the leaves, and then details of the tree the app believes you are stood in front of.

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HERE is a handy feature using Google Docs that will let you scan a letter in to your computer and translate it from French to English.

A recent feature added to Google Docs is Optical Character Recognition (OCR) which converts the text on a scanned image into editable text on the screen.

So for example, say you receive a letter covering a health issue and you are not completely sure what it is saying then scan it and save it to your computer as either a PDF, JPEG, GIF or PNG file.

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IMAGES of cities destroyed during the Second World War, including a few in France, have been made available in Google Earth enabling you to compare them to the modern day.

The photographs come from the archives of the Royal Air Force and United States Air Force and were taken to assess the damage that bombing sorties had made on cities across Europe.

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