Stolen goods appear online in France

Stolen goods from stores affected by looting in France on October 17 and 18 have been found on online sales sites, according to the government. Vinted, Amazon, eBay, Leboncoin, Meta, and TikTok have been brought together at the Ministry of Economy and Finance and are being asked to strengthen their controls and assist investigators in identifying resellers. A preliminary assessment of their actions is expected within 48 hours.

Platforms asked to prevent illegal sales

The government is requesting the platforms to prevent sales of stolen goods and to contribute to investigations by examining listings and removing those that are problematic. Warning signs include abnormally low prices, lots of new products, the presence of anti-theft devices, or explicit mentions of theft. The vigilance also applies to purchase listings, meaning the examination of solicitations that could facilitate the sale of stolen goods.

Companies commit to cooperate with authorities

The companies have committed to cooperating with the authorities by identifying and reporting potentially illegal content, forwarding reports to investigators, and sharing data necessary for identifying resellers. They are also asked to strengthen controls by intensifying surveillance of suspicious listings and purchase requests and to warn consumers of the risks and penalties of receiving stolen goods. They must regularly submit numerical reports on the listings removed, the measures taken, and the reports sent to the authorities.

48-hour deadline for initial report

The deadline of 48 hours concerns the report requested from the platforms, not a general deadline for removing the listings. Removing a listing alone does not allow the seller to be found. The companies already have controls in place, as Leboncoin stated to RTL that all its listings are subjected to automated verification before publication, supplemented by moderation teams. Vinted stated to AFP that it has strengthened its controls and removed listings that could concern stolen goods, according to reports by Le Parisien.

Investigators use available data for tracking

For investigators, the work begins with the available information: content of the listing, publication date, contact information associated with the account, and when the transaction goes through the service, elements related to payment or shipping. These data must be kept and shared within the applicable legal framework. A removed listing must therefore remain documented for the needs of the investigation. It then needs to be verified who used the account, what good was offered, and where it came from. The account holder, the actual seller, and the person who committed the theft are not necessarily the same person.

Legal considerations for identifying guilt

This distinction is also important for the qualification of receiving stolen goods: Article 321-1 of the Penal Code requires, among other things, knowledge of the criminal or delinquent origin of the item. Thus, a suspicious listing justifies checks, but does not in itself establish the author's guilt.

Challenges in identifying stolen items

The difficulty is particularly important when a product has no distinctive features. A serial number can help match a computer offered for sale with an example reported as stolen, but a photograph of a perfume bottle generally does not allow it to be distinguished from other examples of the same model. The information held by merchants then becomes essential: inventory of losses, references, quantities, photographs, and serial numbers if they exist. They can help identify an offer and verify its link to a theft. However, they must be able to transmit them quickly to the right contact.

Cooperation needed across different services

Professional federations could support stores in this approach, especially those that do not have a detailed inventory or a dedicated team. The platforms also do not have access to the same information. A service that manages payment and shipping can have more information about a transaction than a service used only to publish an offer and exchange a phone number. Cooperation with the authorities must take into account these differences.

Measures to go beyond listing removal

Five approaches to go beyond the removal of listings include comparing listings to stolen inventories, verifying certain individual items, identifying activity spread across multiple accounts, verifying before paying, and facilitating the work of investigators. These measures are analysis approaches and are not decisions adopted in the government's statement.

VigE-commerce cell activated for oversight

To follow this mobilization, the ministers have activated the VigE-commerce cell. It must coordinate the competent ministerial services and monitor sales on the platforms. The companies, on their part, must submit a preliminary assessment within 48 hours, and regularly report on their actions. This monitoring will allow knowing how many listings have been removed and how many reports have been transmitted. Bercy does not specify the additional personnel mobilized by the companies, nor the response times to the investigators' requests. The number of removals will certainly be an initial indicator. However, for the merchants who are victims, the concrete outcome will also be measured by the goods recovered, the restitutions, and the judicial follow-up that will be implemented.