Cold calling: here is the list of numbers that are associated with a commercial call or a risk of scam

Certain numbers used for canvassing or for fraudulent purposes can be identified using the prefixes used. Illustration MAXPPP – Roland Macri

Lately, sales calls seem to have made a comeback. Direct sellers, however, must respect certain rules and the numbers available to them are limited. Here is how to know for sure whether or not the call you receive is related to canvassing.

Since January 2023, Arcep (the regulatory authority for electronic communications, posts and press distribution) has set up a new numbering plan which provides in particular that commercial calls must now be made using numbers starting with a series of 4 very specific digits.

This numbering plan must both allow direct sellers to act within a defined legal framework, and allow consumers to better identify calls that involve canvassing. The fact remains that these last ranges of numbers available are quite numerous and do not necessarily allow the applications to filter all commercial calls.

A number of prefixes

L’Arcep recalls the list of all number prefixes authorized and therefore used by direct sellers. So, when you receive a call starting with these numbers, you can know that it is definitely cold calling.

For Metropolitan France, these are 01 62, 01 63, 02 70, 02 71, 03 77, 03 78, 04 24, 04 25, 05 68, 05 69, 09 48 and 09 49.

For calls made from overseas, here are the prefixes to be wary of: 09 475, 09 476, 09& nbsp;477, 09 478, 09 479.

What about cell phone numbers?

In a practical fact sheet on its numbering plan, updated at the end of May, Arcep reminds us in passing how mobile numbers starting with 06 or 07 are regulated. “The new conditions for using mobile numbers require that a single natural person uses a given mobile number, and this, from a mobile terminal on a mobile network”, the regulation indicates. Thus, a mobile number can be used in the context of commercial canvassing, by a single natural person who uses a mobile telephone on a mobile network.

Another obligation for direct sellers: using a line associated with a subscription of less than 72 hours is not authorized; to use a number for a shorter duration, you must use a dedicated number to exchanges with platforms starting with 09 37, 09 38 or 09 39".

Pay attention to the numbers assigned by On

As we recalled in an article at the end of April, there is an application, called OnOff, through which many scammers use to obtain a “credible” telephone number, starting with 06 or 07 for France, and thus contact you for malicious purposes.

According to our colleagues at BFMTV, if scammers are fond of OnOff, initially designed to allow anyone to have a second telephone number with the same SIM card, this is because the application allows them to change numbers regularly and easily, as soon as one of the numbers used for a scam is reported.

It is however possible to identify the numbers assigned by OnOff. Since the beginning of 2023, the numbers concerned are those starting with :

06 44 66 06 44 67 06 44 68 06 44 69 07 56 8 07 56 9

In addition to the well-known Bloctel, other tools exist to protect against canvassing. 33 700, Conso signal, "Respect my data" are options available to consumers.