Usurping the identity of a healthcare professional to issue a fake sick note is an increasingly widespread practice in France. While secure prescriptions are slowly but surely becoming a part of patients' daily lives, sick note forms, on the other hand, remain very easy to falsify. For scammers, it is becoming easy to impersonate real doctors or health centers, then launch their activity on social networks. On Snapchat and Instagram, ads have exploded. in recent months. All you have to do is fill out an online form and pay around twenty euros to obtain the precious document.
A proper procedure
No need to go to the dark web to obtain a fake sick leave certificate. On the website arret-maladie.online.com (to name just one), the promise is enticing: the platform, which boasts of having issued three million medical certificates online since 2018, reveals a surprising procedure. In just a few clicks, you can select your presumed illness: cold, gastroenteritis, migraine, back pain, and even stress. Next comes the selection of symptoms, again with a range of possibilities, ranging from diarrhea to a simple “stressful life event.” You must then indicate whether a doctor has ever diagnosed you with this type of health problem, whether you are subject to more serious symptoms, and whether your employer has ever disputed your previous sick leave dates (in which case the procedure asks you to change your answer).
Then simply select the days you wish to be off work, then enter some personal information. Once your sick leave has been issued, you will receive a formal document by email (with the "authorized outings" option checked) to send to your employer, and signed by a doctor based abroad. Even more surprising: you don't have to pay anything upfront. The service boasts a "satisfaction or your money back" guarantee. It's only once your sick leave has been accepted that you have to pay, the platform promises. An ethically questionable practice, but perfectly legal at present. Jackpot if your contract doesn't provide for any waiting days, since you'll still be paid during these few days of rest.
Note that things are likely to change quickly. Since February 27, a checkbox has been added to the online sick leave prescription form, limiting the power of teleconsultations to only three days of rest. Bills also aim to more strictly regulate the practice.
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