If the number calling starts with these numbers, 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 . 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. If the Bloctel directory is not very effective, there is now a way to identify professional canvassers and ignore them.

The rules of telephone canvassing

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 solicit 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 authorized time slots(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 them the same offer li>

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The energy renovation sector is a special case: call centers do not have the right to contact French people 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 deter them from acting illegally.

Filter dubious 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 will not be easy to distinguish fraudulent calls from those which are not. The simplest thing is to keep an up-to-date file with these numbers easily accessible from your phone. You can also block as you go to put a definitive end to 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.