Spotting a Scam
The internet is full of bad actors. Before discussing what happens when you fall for a trick, let's look at how to identify an online scam (une arnaque).
| I think that this message is a scam. | Je pense que ce message est une arnaque. |
The Reflexive Causative: se faire + infinitive
When you fall victim to a scam, you aren't doing the action yourself—it is being done to you. In English, you "get trapped" or "have your account hacked." In French, express this using the reflexive verb se faire followed by an infinitive.
Since these are often past events, you'll frequently use the passé composé. As a reflexive verb, it takes être as the auxiliary.
| He got trapped by this scam. | Il s'est fait piéger par cette arnaque. |
Grammar Note: In this construction, the past participle fait is invariable. It never adds an -e or -s to agree with the subject, even if the subject is feminine or plural.
| She got swindled because of this trap. | Elle s'est fait escroquer à cause de ce piège. |
Adding an Object
If the action happens to a specific possession (like your password or account), place that noun directly after the infinitive.
| I got my account hacked by a crook. | Je me suis fait pirater mon compte par un escroc. |
| I got my password stolen by this hacker. | Je me suis fait voler mon mot de passe par ce pirate. |
Present Tense
You can also use this structure in the present tense to state general facts. Just conjugate se faire in the present tense and leave the action verb in the infinitive.
| People get scammed because of the fraud. | Les gens se font escroquer à cause de la fraude. |