Why ProtectMyId exists
Because an IT systems engineer experienced the absurdity of the system firsthand — and decided to build what nobody was offering.
March 1, 2023
The theft
A professional vehicle vandalized outside an apartment building in the Paris suburbs. Two minutes of absence. A briefcase stolen containing laptops, documents, an ID card and a passport. The owner filed a police report that same day. He immediately renewed his papers. On the police receipt, he read that his documents were registered in police databases (FOVeS), transmitted to Interpol and the Schengen system. He felt protected.
The false sense of security
What he would later discover is that these databases are only accessible to law enforcement and customs. Banks do verify their customers' identity — it's the law (KYC). But that verification is visual: photo, expiry date, hologram. The databases that track stolen documents — DOCVERIF, FOVeS, TES — are all inaccessible to the private sector. A document reported stolen can be presented the very next day to open a bank account. Nobody will know it's stolen.
May to July 2023
Industrial-scale identity fraud
Armed with the stolen ID card, an individual physically walked into a bank branch in Le Havre. With forged pay stubs, fake bank statements with mismatched fonts, a fabricated IBAN, a falsified notarial deed containing a spelling mistake on the country of birth — he opened an account, obtained a Visa Premier card, a revolving credit of 3,100 euros, then a consumer loan of 20,000 euros. All within one month. Without the promised salary domiciliation ever being honored.
And that was just the beginning. More accounts were opened at three different banks. A vehicle was financed through a credit company for nearly 57,000 euros. Two phone lines were opened (Orange in Le Havre and SFR in Dijon), along with an Orange Bank credit. In total, over 90,000 euros of documented fraud (estimated total ~130,000 euros including organizations that closed the fraudulent accounts without responding to GDPR access requests). All with a single stolen ID card.
November 2023
The nightmare
Eight months later, the real owner of that identity discovered his payment methods were blocked. He was blacklisted from banking. The Banque de France had recorded payment incidents in his name — for bounced checks on an account he never opened, in a city he'd never visited.
The wall of indifference
What followed was a Kafkaesque battle. The bank behind the fraudulent account claimed no wrongdoing — and threatened the victim with defamation proceedings. His own bank, where he'd been a customer for 25 years, refused to restore his banking rights. Three successive complaints were dismissed for 'insufficient evidence' — even though the victim himself provided proof: account numbers, fictitious address, landlord's contact details, the fake employer, the notary who confirmed the deed was forged.
The victim became his own detective. He went to the scene, collected mail from a letterbox bearing his name, discovered formal demands and seizure notices. Through proactive and determined investigation, he obtained damning evidence that no one was willing to give him — and documented the failures one by one: uncompared signatures, crudely forged documents accepted without verification, basic checks ignored.
2023 — 2026
David vs. Goliath
Rejected by the banks, the victim fought alone. Blacklisted as a victim, he was turned away by over a dozen bank branches. 'Your situation doesn't allow us to accept you.' A victim — yet treated as a criminal. The Banque de France confirmed the identity theft, issued a formal attestation, but clarified that banks are private institutions and do as they please. After months of persistence, a single branch manager agreed to listen, read the file, and accept a blacklisted customer. One out of dozens.
He consulted a lawyer specializing in identity theft. Her response: 'You've already done everything I would have recommended.' Sue the negligent bank? 'David vs. Goliath. A waste of time and money.' And protection? 'The damage is done. The fraudsters know you're blacklisted, they move on to someone else.' Three years later, a second specialized lawyer was consulted. The victim asked her a simple question: 'In one sentence, why is identity theft possible in France in 2026?' Silence. Hesitation. Even a specialist couldn't give the obvious answer: because a document reported stolen remains perfectly usable.
The turning point
This man is an IT systems engineer. And he realized something simple: the problem isn't technical. The solution exists. A centralized, secure system that would allow any organization to verify in real time whether an identity document has been reported stolen — without exposing the holder's personal data. No need to know everything. Just whether a document is flagged. The technology is there. The will is not.
His stolen documents remain valid until 23 September 2034. Without real protection, lifting the banking ban would mean falling back into the same nightmare. That's where ProtectMyId was born.
A system entirely backwards
During his research, the founder discovered that every official source — government, banks, insurers, associations — offered exactly the same thing: reactive advice. What to do AFTER becoming a victim. How to file a complaint. How to contact the Banque de France. How to check yourself whether accounts have been opened in your name.
Nobody offers a solution to prevent fraud upstream. ProtectMyId fills that void.
between 300,000 and 400,000 victims per year in France (estimates)
94% of French citizens fear identity theft (Archimag 2024)
1 to 3 years of administrative and legal battle for victims (France Victimes)
2% conviction rate for fraudsters
No centralized identity blocking system in France
And the solution is already proven
While preparing the first communications for ProtectMyId, the founder discovered that the solution he had just built out of personal necessity already existed in other countries — confirming that the approach works.
Belgium — CHECKDOC + DOC STOP: real-time verification for banks. HIT/NO HIT result in seconds. Free, with API. Mandatory for anti-money laundering compliance.
Netherlands — VIS: centralized registry fed by police, transport authority, and civil records. Organizations verify instantly.
Australia — DVS: 14 document types verifiable 24/7 in real time. Used by banks and telecoms.
Estonia — 100% digital identity with PKI: zero electronic identity theft in 20 years. The physical problem no longer exists.
Germany — Revocation lists for electronic ID cards. Instant blocking of eID function.
France — No system. The FOVeS database is restricted to law enforcement. Banks have no way to verify. Between 300,000 and 400,000 victims per year.
ProtectMyId was born out of necessity, not imitation. France has between 300,000 and 400,000 victims per year (estimates) and had no solution. The fact that our neighbors — Belgium, the Netherlands, Australia — already have similar systems confirms that the solution is simple and it works.
Our mission
ProtectMyId won't replace the police, the courts, or banking procedures. But ProtectMyId creates the missing link: the connection between a citizen's theft report and the organizations that, every day, accept identity documents without being able to verify if they've been stolen.
Free for victims, always
Data encrypted (AES-256)
GDPR compliant end-to-end
Built by someone who lived through the problem