Low emission zones (ZFE) have continued to gain ground in France for several years. Since January 1, cities such as Nantes, Rennes, Angers and Tours have joined the list of towns where motorists must now display a Crit'Air thumbnail on his vehicle to travel in certain areas.
A new obligation for motorists
This system aims to limit polluting emissions by prohibiting access to the oldest and most polluting vehicles. These measures, although essential for air quality, represent a real change for many motorists.
Some motorists must therefore adapt their daily lives according to restrictions imposed. While others are forced to consider changing vehicles to comply with the rules in force. These ZFEs currently concern 42 urban areas.
They reduce residents' exposure to fine particles and nitrogen dioxide, two major sources of urban pollution. To obtain this famous Crit'Air sticker, the procedure is relatively simple.
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Simply go to the official government website, certificate-air.gouv.fr. And follow the instructions. The price is also set by the State: 3.81 euros for motorists with vehicles registered in France. And 4.91 euros for foreign vehicles.
On the other hand, an increase in processing times has been reported due to high demand. This has sometimes pushed motorists to turn to alternative solutions. These procedures appear to be very banal.
Be aware, however, that they have become the favorite playground of ingenious scammers. Based on the confusion of motorists, the scammers decided to set up fraudulent sites. These latter perfectly imitate the official website.
-Tips to avoid scams
These platforms often find themselves well positioned in search engines. And they pose as legitimate services. Their objective: to charge the Crit'Air sticker at much higher rates for motorists. This can go up to 60 euros or more.
These scams play on the urgency and ignorance of motorists. But also on misleading domain names. Unlike the government site which uses the gouv.fr extension, these fake sites use extensions like .com, .fr, or even close words to mislead.
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The motorist victims of these scams are not content with paying an exorbitant price. They also risk having their personal or banking data compromised, exposing them to other fraud.
To avoid falling into the trap, the first rule is to check the website address. Only the certification-air.gouv.fr site is official. Also pay attention to advertising links at the top of search results or sites whose URLs do not include the government extension.
Another clue is the price. If the sticker costs more than 3.81 eurosthere is a good chance that it is a scam. Finally, never give sensitive information to a site if you have the slightest doubt about its legitimacy.
