What you will learn
- Know when a sales call is forbidden
- Recognise a telemarketing number, a premium-rate number, a trap call
- Get your number removed from a company's files
- Set up your phone and report abuse
Module 1
Understand cold calling
The rule: no call without your consent
Until 2026, it was up to you to refuse: you had to register on the Bloctel list. Since 11 August 2026, the logic is reversed. A company may only cold-call you if you gave it your consent before the call. You no longer have to register anywhere.
There are two exceptions:
- the call concerns a current contract with that company, for instance your insurer offering an option;
- the sale of newspapers or magazines.
Even with your consent, calls are only allowed Monday to Friday, 10 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 8 pm, never on public holidays, and four times a month at most.
Numbers that tell a story
The start of a French number says something about the caller:
- 01 62, 01 63, 02 70, 02 71, 03 77, 03 78, 04 24, 04 25, 05 68, 05 69, 09 48, 09 49: the twelve ranges telemarketing platforms must use;
- 06 and 07: mobiles, forbidden to telemarketing platforms. A sales call from an unknown mobile is illegal;
- 08 1, 08 2, 08 9: premium-rate numbers. Do not call them back;
- a foreign country code that rings only once: the one-ring scam, meant to make you call back a charged number.
Beware: a fraudster can display a fake number. The start of a number is a clue, not proof.
Where your number comes from, and how to get it removed
Your number circulates because it was given out one day: an online quote, a prize draw, a comparison site, a box saying “I agree to be contacted by our partners”. It was then resold from file to file.
There is no button to erase it everywhere. However, the European data protection regulation (GDPR) gives you three rights towards each company:
- the right to object: it must stop cold-calling you;
- the right to erasure: it must delete your data;
- the right of access: it must tell you where it got your number.
It has one month to reply. Without a reply, you can turn to the CNIL, the French data protection authority.
What these rules do not stop
The law only restrains companies that respect it or that can be inspected. Scammers, often based abroad, call from mobiles or spoofed numbers and ignore the bans.
Against them, three reflexes are enough: never give a code received by text, a card number or a password over the phone; hang up without arguing; block the number. For a dubious text message, the Suspicious link tool examines the link for you.
Key takeawayWithout your consent, the sales call is forbidden. Note the company's name, write to it to get your number removed, report the call, and never give a code or a card number over the phone.
Words to know
- Cold calling
- A call from a company to a private person to sell a product or service they did not ask for.
- Prior consent
- The agreement you give a company before it calls you. It must be clear, and you can withdraw it at any time.
- Bloctel
- The former French opt-out list. Since 11 August 2026, registering on it is no longer needed to be protected.
- Premium-rate number
- A French number in 08 1, 08 2 or 08 9, charged more than an ordinary call, sometimes several euros.
- GDPR
- The European regulation that protects your personal data. It lets you ask for your number to be erased.
- SignalConso
- The website of the DGCCRF, the French consumer authority, for reporting abusive cold calls.
Module 2
Use the tool step by step
Type the number that called you
- Open the Stop cold calls tool.
- In the “Who is calling?” tab, type the number in the “Number that called” field, with or without spaces.
- If you remember them, also give the day and time of the call.
TipNothing is sent: the analysis runs in your browser.
Read the result
- Press “Analyse the number”.
- The tool gives the type of number: reserved for telemarketing, mobile, premium-rate, foreign…
- If you gave the time, it says whether a sales call was allowed at that moment.
- The “What to do?” list gives the steps in order.
Screenshot : Stop cold calls Prepare the letter
- Press “Prepare the letter to the company”: the “Get my number removed” tab opens, with the number and date already filled in.
- Enter the company's name, your first and last name, and your number.
- The letter is written below as you type, in French, because it relies on French law.
TipYou do not know the company's name? Ask at the next call: the caller has to introduce themselves.
Send the letter
- Read the text again: you can edit it.
- Then press “Copy the letter” to paste it wherever you like, or “Open in my e-mail app” if you have the company's e-mail address.
- Send it to the “personal data” address in its legal notice and keep a copy.
- No reply after a month?
- Choose “Reminder, no reply after one month” in the “Letter” list.
Screenshot : Stop cold calls Follow the list of protections
- The “Protect myself” tab gathers eight settings: refuse the “be contacted” boxes, leave the directories, turn on your operator's filter, block the telemarketing ranges, report.
- Tick each point once done: your ticks stay in this browser.
Screenshot : Stop cold calls TipThe “Copy the twelve ranges” button saves you typing them by hand into your phone's settings.
All done: over to you.
Module 3
Three everyday situations
A Saturday morning, an insulation offer
Mrs Keller gets a call from 01 62… on a Saturday at 11 am, about insulation “for one euro”. The tool answers “Number reserved for telemarketing” and flags a forbidden time. She asks for the company's name, sends the letter, then reports the call on SignalConso, mentioning the day.
A missed call from abroad
Lucas's phone rang just once, from a country code he does not know. The tool says “Foreign number” and advises not to call back. He blocks the number and reports it by text to 33700.
The “bank adviser”
A man calls from an 06 number, claims to be from the bank and asks Jeanne to read him a code received by text “to cancel a fraud”. No bank does that. Jeanne hangs up, calls her bank on the number printed on her card, and blocks the number.
Common mistakes
- Calling an unknown number back “just to see”: if it is premium-rate or foreign, the call can be expensive.
- Believing the number displayed is always the real one: fraudsters know how to show a fake.
- Leaving the “I agree to be contacted by phone” box ticked in a form: that box is what authorises the calls.
- Getting angry and hanging up without noting the company's name: without it, you cannot write to it or report it.
The essentials
- Since 11 August 2026, cold calling is forbidden in France without your prior consent.
- Law-abiding telemarketers call from twelve number ranges, never from an 06 or 07.
- One letter is enough to demand that calls stop and your data be erased; the company has one month to reply.
- Do not call back an unknown premium-rate or foreign number, and never give a code over the phone.
Test yourself
A few questions to check that everything is clear.