It is possible to register for free on the Bloctel service, launched in 2016, if you think you are the target of invasive telephone canvassing.
PHOTO illustration AFP / Amy Osborne
A real scourge for ordinary people, cold calling is becoming more and more incessant, so much so that some individuals and smartphone users no longer even deign to answer calls when they are unaware of the number. Their fear beyond being canvassed? To also be the target of scams, a recent one of which emerged under a call number starting with + 44. This categorical refusal to answer when the number is unfamiliar still has its limits and is not the ideal solution, especially if urgent calls are wrongly refused. To avoid having to refuse all unknown numbers at the risk of missing an important call, Arcep (Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications, Posts and Press Distribution) updates the list of numbers to avoid.
As a reminder, since March 1, 2023, telephone canvassing of consumers is only authorized from Monday to Friday, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. It is prohibited on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. These times were determined in a decree dated October 13, 2022. But these slots where canvassing is authorized are often too much for users. To remedy this persistent practice, in November 2024, the Senate adopted, at first reading, a bill for consensual telephone canvassing and reinforced consumer protection against abuse. This law, tabled by the senator from Aisne Pierre-Jean Verzelen, allows French people to choose whether or not they want to be contacted via registration with the companies concerned.
-Numbers with 4 codes
The law has not yet come into force, so mobile phone users must use stratagems to avoid responding to canvassers of all kinds. Especially since certain companies use prohibited practices by using numbers starting with 06 or 07. However, these numbers are reserved for interpersonal communications, as specified by Arcep which regularly updates the list of indicative numbers, ” which can be used as a calling number by automated call and message sending systems”. Here is the list of numbers which could approach you, the latter are recognizable by the first 4 codes: 01. 62; 02 70; 09 49; 03 78; 04 25; 05 69; and Saint-Barthélemy 09; 476 in Guyana; 09,477 in Martinique and 09,478, 09,479 in Reunion and Mayotte.
It is possible to register for free on the Bloctel service, launched in 2016, if you think you are the target of invasive telephone canvassing.
