In 2025, the DGCCRF (the French consumer protection and anti-fraud authority) recorded 52,000 fraud reports linked to energy renovation — a 93% increase compared with 2023. Fake advisers, short-lived companies, inflated quotes, grant applications filed without the owner's knowledge: energy renovation has become the prime hunting ground for scammers targeting private individuals in France.
The reopening of the MaPrimeRénov' scheme (the French national energy renovation grant) on 23 February 2026 restarted the machine: every reopening of the scheme triggers a spike in aggressive canvassing in the following weeks, primarily targeting owners of houses rated F or G. If you are preparing a renovation project this year, you are a target. The seven warning signs detailed here let you rule out a fraudulent contractor before signing anything — each one rests on a precise legal basis and can be checked for free.
In 2024, ANAH (the French national housing agency) blocked around 44,000 suspicious MaPrimeRénov' applications, preventing close to €230 million in losses — a volume that shows how industrialised renovation grant fraud has become.
What this article covers
The anti-fraud arsenal built between 2020 and 2027 (ban on telephone canvassing, the law of 30 June 2025 against public aid fraud, the mandatory France Rénov' appointment), the 7 signs that characterise a MaPrimeRénov' scam — each with its legal basis and its free verification —, the full pre-signature checklist, what to do if you have already signed, and the four mistakes that trap even cautious owners.
Energy renovation scams: what French law already prohibits in 2026
The legal framework was tightened in three successive steps, and knowing these texts is your first line of defence: most of the practices described in this article are not merely suspicious — they are illegal.
First text: law no. 2020-901 of 24 July 2020 banned telephone canvassing for energy renovation (article L.223-1 of the French Consumer Code). An unsolicited sales call on this topic therefore comes either from a company breaking the law or from a scammer — in both cases, the caller does not deserve your trust.
Second text: law no. 2025-681 of 30 June 2025 against all public aid fraud targets the most opaque link in the chain — subcontracting. It requires that the client be informed of any use of subcontracting in the contract itself, on pain of nullity of the contract; it has limited the subcontracting chain to two tiers since January 2026; and from 2027 it will require the company that invoices the works to hold the RGE certification itself (Reconnu Garant de l'Environnement — the quality label that conditions access to public renovation grants).
Third pillar: the 2026 MaPrimeRénov' conditions set by ANAH require, for the comprehensive renovation pathway, a prior appointment with a France Rénov' adviser — a public, neutral and free counterpart. This mandatory step is designed as an anti-fraud filter.
| Text | What it requires or prohibits | Effect if breached |
|---|---|---|
| Law no. 2020-901 of 24 July 2020 (Consumer Code art. L.223-1) | Ban on telephone canvassing for energy renovation | The sales call is illegal in itself |
| Law no. 2025-681 of 30 June 2025 | Subcontracting disclosed in the contract; chain limited to two tiers (January 2026); RGE required of the invoicing company (2027) | Nullity of the contract |
| Consumer Code, art. L.221-18 | 14-day withdrawal period for any contract concluded off-premises | Withdrawal without reason or penalty |
| MaPrimeRénov' 2026 conditions (ANAH) | Mandatory France Rénov' appointment before a comprehensive renovation | Grant application inadmissible |
For the details of the 2026 grant scales, income thresholds and eligibility conditions of the scheme reopened in February, see our MaPrimeRénov' 2026 guide: new rules and grant scales.
The 7 signs of a MaPrimeRénov' scam — and how to check each one
Taken in isolation, none of these signs proves a scam. But each one matches a recurring marker in the fraudulent cases documented by the DGCCRF, and each can be checked for free, online, in a few minutes. From three combined signs onwards, the probability of a scam becomes overwhelming.
Sign #1 — A signature demanded at the first visit
Sign #1 — You are pushed to sign on the day. The sales rep arrives with a pre-filled quote, announces an "offer valid today only", a "grant budget about to run out" or a "last available installation slot", and pushes for a signature before leaving. Artificial time pressure is the most classic scam marker in the cases recorded by the DGCCRF.
The context often makes the sign worse: if the visit follows a sales call, the operation was born from an illegal practice (telephone canvassing banned by the law of 24 July 2020). And no MaPrimeRénov' scale expires at the end of the week, no budget can be reserved by signing immediately: these urgencies do not exist in the real scheme.
The check: refuse any signature on the day of the first visit, without exception. A serious professional leaves the quote with you, invites you to compare and follows up later. If the rep insists, makes a "discount" conditional on an immediate signature or refuses to leave the quote, the meeting is over.
Sign #2 — A company created less than 18 months ago
Sign #2 — The company is less than 18 months old. Fraudulent structures run in short cycles: incorporation, capture of grants and deposits for a few months, then liquidation or dormancy before the first disputes — and re-creation under another name.
The check: it is free and takes two minutes on annuaire-entreprises.data.gouv.fr (the official French company register). Look up the SIREN number shown on the quote and check the date of incorporation, the identity of the directors, the administrative status (active, struck off, in insolvency proceedings) and the registered address. A company created six months ago, registered at a domiciliation centre and run by someone who has already liquidated several companies in the sector ticks all the boxes on its own.
A young company is not necessarily fraudulent, but its youth demands compensating guarantees: verifiable references from past worksites, a valid ten-year liability insurance, and no significant advance payment before the works start.
Sign #3 — An RGE label that does not cover your works
Sign #3 — The RGE certification displayed does not match the field of your works. RGE certification is not a blanket label: it is issued per field of works. A company certified RGE for loft insulation is not RGE for installing a heat pump — and MaPrimeRénov' grants require the company to be qualified for the exact field of the invoiced works.
The check: the official directory at france-renov.gouv.fr/annuaire-rge lets you verify, by company name or SIRET number, that the qualification is valid on the date of the quote and the exact list of fields covered. If the field of your works is not listed, the grant application will be rejected — and you will be left alone with an inflated invoice, sized for a subsidy that will never arrive.
Sign #4 — Your tax number requested before any quote
Sign #4 — You are asked for your tax number at the first contact. Your French tax number and reference tax income are enough to create a MaPrimeRénov' account and file a grant application without your knowledge. This is the central mechanism of identity hijacking: the application is filed in your name, the grants are paid to the company, and the works are botched or never happen.
The correct order is the reverse: the quote first, the application afterwards. The tax number is only used to assemble the application, never to price the works — a sales rep who demands it at the first meeting is preparing something other than a quote.
⚠️ Warning: never share your impots.gouv.fr credentials — neither the password nor a code received by SMS or email. No company, no "adviser" and no administration needs them for a MaPrimeRénov' application. Whoever holds them can view your full tax situation and act in your name.
Sign #5 — Works advertised as "100% free" or "for €1"
Sign #5 — You are promised zero out-of-pocket cost. "€1 renovation" offers have disappeared from the legal scheme: since 2023, a residual cost always remains for the household, apart from very rare configurations reserved for very low-income households. A promise of total gratuity in 2026 is mechanically false.
Behind the "free" pitch, three scenarios: overstated grants whose shortfall will land on you; an inflated quote designed to absorb the residual cost, financed in reality by a consumer loan signed at the same time as the quote; or outright fraud, where the company pockets the grants and disappears. In all three cases, "free" is the scam's loss leader.
The check: demand a written line-by-line financing plan — cost of the works, amount of each grant, final residual cost — and compare it against an independent simulation of the works cost and the 2026 grants. If a loan is slipped into the file, its total cost must appear in black and white.
Sign #6 — Subcontracting missing from the quote
Sign #6 — The quote does not say who will carry out the works. This is the classic pattern of organised fraud: a sales structure signs the quote and captures the grants, then subcontracts the execution in cascade to unqualified companies. The client discovers unknown workers on the first day of the worksite — without RGE certification, sometimes without insurance.
Law no. 2025-681 of 30 June 2025 turned this opacity into a ground for nullity: information on the use of subcontracting must appear in the contract, on pain of nullity; the subcontracting chain has been limited to two tiers since January 2026; and from 2027, the invoicing company will itself have to be RGE-certified — closing the loophole of unqualified commercial shells.
The check: ask in writing whether the works will be subcontracted and to whom, then require the identity, SIREN number and RGE qualification of each contractor before signing. A refusal or an evasive answer ("our partner teams") counts as a sign.
Sign #7 — Bypassing the France Rénov' appointment
Sign #7 — "Everything is handled, you have nothing to do". Since 2026, the MaPrimeRénov' comprehensive renovation pathway requires a prior appointment with a France Rénov' adviser (ANAH 2026 conditions). A professional who claims they can "handle everything without you having to go anywhere" is either lying about the procedure or organising its fraudulent circumvention.
This appointment is not an administrative formality: the France Rénov' adviser is a public third party, free of charge and with no commercial ties to any company. It is precisely the actor who detects inflated quotes, overstated grants and incoherent works packages — which is exactly why fraudsters try to cut them out of the loop.
The check: book the appointment yourself via france-renov.gouv.fr and bring the quote with you. If your sales contact tries to talk you out of it ("it delays the application", "we have an agreement with ANAH"), the sign becomes near certainty.
The 7 signs at a glance
| # | Sign | Legal basis or rule | Free check |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Signature demanded at the first visit | Telephone canvassing banned (law of 24 July 2020) | Refuse on principle, quote left with you |
| 2 | Company less than 18 months old | DGCCRF marker of short-lived structures | annuaire-entreprises.data.gouv.fr |
| 3 | RGE not covering the works | RGE certification per field, grant condition | france-renov.gouv.fr/annuaire-rge |
| 4 | Tax number requested before any quote | Useless for pricing — identity hijacking risk | Refuse; create the account yourself |
| 5 | "100% free" or "for €1" | Residual cost always applies since 2023 | Line-by-line financing plan |
| 6 | Subcontracting missing from the quote | Law no. 2025-681 of 30 June 2025 — nullity of the contract | Identity and RGE of subcontractors in writing |
| 7 | France Rénov' appointment bypassed | 2026 comprehensive renovation pathway (ANAH) | Appointment booked by you |
What to check before signing: 1) the SIREN on the quote exists, the company is active and more than 18 months old (annuaire-entreprises.data.gouv.fr); 2) the RGE qualification covers the exact field of the works on the date of the quote (france-renov.gouv.fr/annuaire-rge); 3) the quote discloses any subcontracting with the contractors' identities; 4) the financing plan details each grant and the final residual cost; 5) no tax number or impots.gouv.fr credentials have been shared; 6) the France Rénov' appointment for a comprehensive renovation is booked by you; 7) you have a second quote and an independent simulation of the works cost and grants.
Three signs or more: do not sign — and if you already have, withdraw
From three combined signs onwards, do not sign, however attractive the offer: no discount offsets the risk of losing a deposit, of a grant application being filed in your name, or of an abandoned worksite.
If you have already signed a contract concluded off-premises — at your home, at a trade fair or following canvassing — you have a 14-day withdrawal period, without reason or penalty (article L.221-18 of the French Consumer Code). Exercise it by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or via the detachable form that must be attached to the contract, keeping a dated copy.
Then report the company on SignalConso (signal.conso.gouv.fr), the DGCCRF's platform: reports feed investigations and trigger inspections. And whatever happens, never share your impots.gouv.fr credentials — the mere request is the signature of fraud.
Already a victim: the three remedies to activate
If grants have been diverted, a deposit cashed without works or the worksite abandoned, three steps should run in parallel. File a criminal complaint (police station, gendarmerie or online): fraud is a criminal offence. Inform ANAH if a MaPrimeRénov' application has been created or used without your knowledge, so that payments are frozen. Finally, activate the legal protection cover of your home insurance, which often pays for the expert assessment and the proceedings against the company.
If the file relied on an accommodating DPE (Diagnostic de Performance Énergétique — the French energy performance certificate), a classic trick to inflate the promised rating gain, check the diagnosis with our article on detecting a fake DPE: the 7 signs you can check yourself, then start the challenge (formal notice, independent assessment, liability action) following our guide to remedies for an inaccurate EPC.
The 4 mistakes that trap even cautious owners
Mistake #1 — Paying a deposit before ANAH's approval
The protective sequence is strict: file the MaPrimeRénov' application, receive ANAH's approval notification, and only then start the works and pay a deposit. Paying a significant deposit before approval exposes you twice over: if the application is rejected (mismatched RGE, thresholds exceeded, missing documents), your residual cost explodes; if the company disappears, the deposit is lost. Fraudsters systematically push to reverse the order — "we'll get the worksite moving while the application is processed".
Mistake #2 — Trusting the MaPrimeRénov' logo on the sales brochure
No company is "MaPrimeRénov' approved", "mandated by the State" or an "ANAH partner": these statuses do not exist in the scheme. A logo printed on a brochure or a van commits nobody but the printer. The only enforceable quality is the RGE certification for the relevant field, verifiable in the official directory — everything else is marketing, misleading at best.
Mistake #3 — Letting the company create your MaPrimeRénov' account
Handing over the account creation means losing control of the application: a diverted email address, intercepted notifications, modified bank details. Create the account yourself, or go exclusively through a representative officially declared to ANAH — their mandate is regulated and keeps notifications and traceability on your side. In all cases, the tax number and credentials stay with you.
Mistake #4 — Skipping the comparison quote
A single quote gives you no point of comparison: a price inflated by 40% stays invisible without a reference. Always request a second quote and compare both against an independent simulation of the works cost and grants. A major gap between the rep's quote and the simulation is not a negotiation detail — it is a sign in its own right, on a par with the seven above.
Price your works and grants yourself before signing
OneDpe renovation works and 2026 grants simulator
Before signing a quote, price for yourself the realistic cost of each work item (insulation, heating, ventilation, windows), the expected DPE class gain and the amount of 2026 grants — MaPrimeRénov', CEE energy saving certificates, 5.5% reduced VAT, eco-PTZ zero-rate loan — based on your property and income. If the rep's quote deviates sharply from the simulation, that is a sign.
A DPE comes attached to the quote? Analyse its consistency with the OneDpe DPE verification tool — accommodating DPEs are part of the fraudulent file toolkit.
Conclusion
Renovation grant fraud is industrialised, but it remains detectable: the seven signs — forced signature, short-lived company, mismatched RGE, tax number demanded, promised gratuity, hidden subcontracting, bypassed France Rénov' appointment — cover the bulk of the schemes recorded by the DGCCRF, and each can be checked for free in a few minutes. The legal arsenal (law of 24 July 2020, law no. 2025-681 of 30 June 2025, withdrawal under article L.221-18) also provides concrete levers, including after signature.
The most protective reflex remains independent pricing: the OneDpe works and 2026 grants simulator establishes in minutes the realistic cost of your works package and the grants you are actually entitled to — an objective benchmark to hold against any commercial quote.
