Abusive telephone solicitation, voice or SMS spam: what to do?

Verified 26 March 2021 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

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Published on 14 October 2022

The days, times and frequencies for which telephone canvassing is authorized are specified by a decree of 13 october 2022.

These provisions will come into force on the 1st^er March 2023.

The information contained on this page remains current and will be amended as soon as the text enters into force.

To protect you against abusive telephone solicitation, voice spam or SMS (unknown correspondent prompting you to call back a premium-rate number), solutions exist.

What applies to you ?

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We're talking about abusive telephone solicitation when you receive unwanted commercial telephone calls. For example, a company calls you to sell you a telephone subscription or to have you carry out work to reduce the energy consumption of your home.

Warning

a purely malicious call (insult, threat...) is the responsibility of the telephone harassment. It's a crime. If you are prompted to call back a premium rate number, it is voice spam.

If you do not wish to be the subject of commercial telephone calls, you can register for free on a no-call list.

This is done on the Bloctel website:

Subscribe to the Bloctel list

By registering on this list, companies will no longer be able to call you to call you.

The following professionals have the right to call you:

Survey institute and non-profit association if they do not carry out commercial prospecting
Professional for the supply of newspapers, periodicals or magazines
Company with which you have a pre-existing contractual relationship. This company can call you if you're a customer at home and only if the commercial offer is relevant to your contract. This includes offers of products or services that are related to your contract or that are complementary to the subject of your contract or that are likely to improve its performance or quality.

Warning

the contract concluded with a consumer as a result of a telephone solicitation carried out in breach of the registration on Bloctel is considered invalid and may be annulled in court.

The trader must ensure that his prospecting files comply with the Bloctel Do Not Call list.

To do this, he must contact the body that manages Bloctel (Opposetel) at least once a month if he usually does canvassing.

In other cases, it must do so before any telephone solicitation campaign.

Furthermore, at the beginning of each telephone call, the trader must give his identity or that of the person on whose behalf he is calling, and the commercial nature of his call.

This information must be given to you in a clear, precise and comprehensible manner.

Without indicating the identity and commercial nature, the trader may have to pay a fine up to €15,000.

The trader's phone number must also be displayed or you may be fined up to €375,000.

Please note

any contract concluded with an operator of electronic communications services (telephony, internet, television) must include information about the possibility of registering for free on Bloctel. Without this information, the operator may have to pay a fine of €15,000.

You must report it on the Bloctel website by filling out a declaration form accessible from your personal area. Your declaration is sent to the departmental services of the DGCCRF: titleContent carry out such investigations as they deem necessary.

We're talking about voice spam if you receive a call with a type number of 089..., 081... or 082..., but it hangs up as soon as you take the call. It can also stay online for a few seconds. If you have not picked up, the number will be recorded as a missed call. The purpose of these calls is to get you to call back a surcharged number. Such practices may be attempted fraud.

We are also talking about voice spam if you get a call from a classic 01 40 number...but when you pick up, you're encouraged to call back a premium-rate number. It is also an attempt to defraud.

FYI

if your correspondent picks up and offers you a commercial offer, it is a telephone solicitation and not a voice spam.

You can block the number of the correspondent by sending by SMS to the 33,700 a message containing the words Voice Spam followed by the number of your correspondent who prompts you to call him back.

An SMS message will be sent to you by the 33,700 to confirm the correct receipt of your report.

Sending a text message to 33,700 is free if you are a customer with the following operators:

Auchan Telecom
Bouygues Telecom
CIC Mobile
Cofidis Mobile
Mobile Mutual Credit
Free
Mobile NRJ
Orange
SFR

For other operators, the service may cost the price of a normal SMS.

In addition, some applications offer to block voice spam themselves. Your operator can offer such an application.

You can identify and report Voice Spam online, even if you have received a call on your landline.

Identify and report online voice spam

SMS Spam is a text message from an unknown caller prompting you to call back a premium rate number such as 089..., 081... or 082.... This text message can be used as an excuse to win a lottery, for example. Such practices may be attempted fraud.

You can also receive commercial offers by SMS without wanting to swindle you. The company usually offers to send STOP to stop SMS.

You can block the correspondent's number by sending your correspondent's SMS back to the 33,700.

Who shall I contact

33,700 - Voice or SMS Spam
By SMS
33,700
Use to report a phone number that is sending spam
Free for Bouygues Telecom, Orange, SFR, NRJ Mobile, Crédit Mutuel Mobile, CIC Mobile, Cofidis Mobile and Auchan Telecom customers.

Sending a text message to 33,700 is free if you are a customer with the following operators: