Initially designed to make drivers more responsible, the points license has become a very lucrative private market generating numerous scams…
A corrupted driving license?
In more than 30 years of existence, the business of driving license point recovery courses has attracted completely legitimate companies, but also very inventive scammers who tarnish the image of this sector whose road safety mission is increasingly contested.
Illegal online training, illegal sales of points, training courses canceled at the last minute and never refunded… the business of recovering driving license points has become a real jungle. Implemented in 1992, the points license nevertheless had a good intention: to make motorists responsible and sideline those who do not respect the highway code. Nearly 35 years later, this public interest mission is unfortunately undermined by numerous fraud techniques.
A very juicy market
According to the report published in September 2025 by the National Interministerial Road Safety Observatory (ONISR), the French lost 11.7 million points in 2024, compared to 15.7 million the previous year. This clear improvement actually hides a sleight of hand, since speeding below 5 km/h is no longer synonymous with deduction of points. Also for 2024, some 47,916 motorists saw their licenses invalidated after reaching zero points. But it is possible to raise the bar, underlines the ONISR report: “In 2024, 24,872 courses were organized for the benefit of 320,402 trainees: i.e. 302,853 trainees for reconstitution of the points capital – so-called “points license” courses – or 17,549 trainees for alternatives to legal proceedings or criminal composition – so-called “justice”.” Nearly 25,000 internships in 365 days, so that’s huge.
Over the years, points recovery has logically emerged as a business in its own right, with the State having delegated this mission to the private sector. This market is today shared by around 320 locally approved organizations – by the departmental prefectures – and whose turnover fluctuates, depending on the year, between 50 and 70 million euros. Inevitably, such a financial windfall attracted many professionals… of fraud.
If you are concerned after having significantly reduced your 12 regulatory points, a search on Google will refer you to the best referenced organizations such as PermisAPoints.fr, Actiroute, Ornikar, LegiPermis.com, ProDrive Academy, France Internship Permit or Recupoint.fr. All offer courses worth 160 to 300 euros, intended to help you recover your points. But be careful, it is better to be wary as online comments are deadly for many fraudulent organizations and platforms.
Fraud of all kinds
And these scam specialists are often imaginative. Last year, for example, a type of fraud grew: the use of the license points of deceased people, as revealed in an article in Figaro : “After a death, the heirs should request the cancellation of the deceased’s driving license. In practice, the process is not obligatory, the formality is never carried out. This flaw allows, following excessive speed noted by a radar, to designate a deceased driver so that the points are removed from the deceased’s license and not from that of the driver responsible for the offense. And from this flaw a lucrative business was born, despite heavy sanctions incurred by both the buyer and the seller.” And this business – which is carried out mainly online – is very lucrative: on The Good Cornerpoints are worth up to 1000 euros.
It’s a truism, but it’s a reality: everything can be bought. Starting with false certificates of training courses to recover points and obtain the code, especially from drivers who have used up their 12 points and need to retake the exam. Problem, according to numbers of Unidec – the driving school union –, 40% of certificates of passing the code are fraudulent. At issue: the fact that the State abandoned this mission in 2016 in favor of the private sector and that it does not carry out sufficient control to stem this scourge. In 2023 for example, a Haute-Saône network would have earned 120,000 euros by selling false certificates to 1,400 candidates. They are also illegal, therefore.
But training and points recovery organizations with a storefront – or on the first page of Google search results – are not exempt from all reproach. The practices of some resemble, neither more nor less, a well-organized scam as the demand from candidates is great. Courses canceled at the last minute by organizations, refunds refused after cancellation, prices higher than initially announced… many centers offer very bad publicity to this sector.
The anger of users
Last December, the case of the closure of the PermisLib.fr website made the headlines: the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) was contacted following too many reports of courses canceled without reason, failure to actually register for courses, despite payments already made. The sign even used the image of Marianne even though this is only reserved for official organizations. “To have a website arrested and closed, you need proof, you have to put together a whole case,” explains Jérôme Bouffandeaugeneral manager at ActiRoute, a center organizing points recovery courses. And it can sometimes take several weeks, even several months. But in the meantime, the trainees are being harmed.”
The problem in this story is customer feedback on the many online review platforms where consumers leave negative reviews. Because all providers are put in the same bag. But whether on Verified Reviews or on Trustpilot, none are spared from bad comments: francestagepermis.fr, actiroute.com, cerbobillot.fr, stages-points.fr or even stage-recuperation-points.com attract the anger of users. Here is an anthology, without naming the companies concerned: “Really to avoid! Your appointment is canceled three times”, “Scam, appeal to fraud prevention, think that you can change your schedule according to their wishes! No wonder many drivers drive without a license!!!”, “Course canceled the day after payment! Other dates available, but not at the same price!”, “License course passed in February 2024. The points are still not credited 9 months later, so I contacted the driving license services and filed a complaint.” The list is long.
Questioned by many actors, the public authorities recently reacted: on April 29, the Official Journal published a decree imposing a much stricter framework for private operators responsible for issuing the code to learner drivers, in order to fight more effectively against fraud involving false certificates. The State is trying to regain control to put an end to the abuses, but the evil remains very deep.
