If the number calling starts with these 4 digits, block it: it's cold calling

© Yan Krukau – Pexels

Telephone canvassing is a commercial practice which consists of calling consumers by telephone to offer them products or services – not always requested. While some calls may be useful, others are seen as a nuisance and an intrusion into privacy. According to the UFC Que Choisir association, the French are approached 4 times a week in an unsolicited manner.

Faced with increasingly frequent unsolicited calls, consumers must organize themselves to gain peace of mind. If the Bloctel directory is not very effective, there is now a way to identify professional direct sellers and ignore them.

The rules of cold calling

Since March 1, 2023, telephone canvassing of consumers has been subject to stricter rules resulting from the law of July 24, 2020 which aims to regulate canvassing and fight against fraudulent calls. Professionals who want to contact prospects by telephone must respect a certain number of obligations, otherwise they expose themselves to financial risk.

Non-exhaustive list:

• Do not call people registered on the Bloctel telephone canvassing opposition list
• Do not call people outside of authorized time periods (Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
• Do not call people with a hidden number
• Do not call people with a number starting with 06 or 07
• Do not call people more than four times a month to offer the same offer

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The energy renovation sector is a special case: call centers do not have the right to contact the French at ALL. Whatever the offense, direct sellers can be exposed to fines which can be counted in the dozens… even hundreds – thousands of euros. Unfortunately, this sometimes does not always deter them from acting illegally.

Filter suspicious numbers

For call centers, there are now telephone codes which have been defined by the government and which must be used in their practices. If you no longer wish to answer unsolicited calls, you can simply filter the numbers that start with the codes below. If you see a call starting with one of these codes, simply block it. This way he has no chance of calling you back.

• Metropolitan France: 0162, 0163, 0270, 0271, 0377, 0378, 0424, 0425, 0568, 0569, 0948, 0949
• Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy: 09475
• Guyana: 09476
• Martinique: 09477
• Reunion and Mayotte: 09478 and 09479

It won't be easy to distinguish fraudulent calls from those that aren't. The easiest way is to keep an up-to-date record of these numbers easily accessible from your phone. You can also block them as you go along to put a definitive end to the canvassing. And keep one thing in mind: if a call center calls you, you have to know how to cut the conversation short – while remaining polite so as not to attract his wrath.

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