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Beware: CPF Fraud Schemes

If you are taking lessons with us and using government funding to finance your lessons, we wanted to warn you of a serious scam taking place at the moment and give you advice on what to do.

The scam targets the CPF which is a fund that can be used by employed and self-employed people for training courses.

As you may already know, the CPF works like a personal funding account which, as long as you have a valid social security number, is topped up each year according to what you’ve worked the previous year.

In order to check your balance, you simply need to create your account (click here) and see the available amount which you can use towards training courses such as the Alpine French School courses.

However, some unscrupulous companies contact people in order to ’empty’ their CPF accounts without their knowledge, leaving them with no funds for training. These companies are quite clever and well organised resulting in some of our students falling for the scam and being tricked into using their CPF funds for non-existent courses.

HOW DO THEY DO IT?

– First they call you, asking if you know about your CPF and if you would like to use it for a course, saying they’ll be happy to help you. * Companies also email or send SMS so please also beware of this.

– Then they ask if you have already opened your CPF account. Since this system is new, a majority of people haven’t, so they offer to ‘assist’ you in creating it and checking your balance.

– From that moment, they are ‘in’ and they enrol you in courses provided by their partners.

– Since they have your logins (your social security number and password given over the phone), they can act on your behalf and approve your enrollment on courses you know nothing about. They can even confirm you have done the course (pretending they’re you!)

WHAT TO DO?

– Do not give your social security number or password over the phone or by email

– Create your CPF account yourself. It’s easy and quick! (see official link above)

– If you think you’ve been hacked, change your password. This will stop them being able to act on your behalf.

– If you wish to choose a course on your CPF platform, always contact the training centre directly first to check if it’s legitimate.

– Always check that you get sent a training contract to sign before starting any course. Alpine French School will always assist you in your application but will never submit your request without your signature first.

If your CPF account has been debited, you need to cancel any courses you’ve been enrolled in and contact the CPF via their contact form.

Don’t hesitate to contact us at budgets@alpinefrenchschool.com so we can give you advice on getting your money back.

If you’re keen to do a French course using your CPF, we have a number of learning packages available depending on the amount of your CPF credit.

Don’t hesitate to contact us and we’ll be happy to guide you through the best options as well as the application.

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