A special issue to spot the crooks. This is what the ARCEP (Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts) offers, “the gendarme” of telecoms, inviting a public consultation on the subject, reports BFM Tech & Co.
“Many fraudulent calls using a Usurpé mobile number arrive in France from abroad without being filtered, for lack for French operators to be able to differentiate them from legitimate calls issued in roaming by French subscribers,” explains Arcep. To remedy this, the latter offers to display the number 99 99 99 99 when a call with a French mobile number from the international could not be authenticated.
“Avoid potential legitimate calls being interrupted by operators”
This alternative to blocking certain numbers would also make it possible to “prevent potential legitimate calls from being interrupted by user operators called while limiting the risks of usurpation”, underlines the ARCEP. For a customer with several numbers, “ARCEP provides that operators must define in the contract […] the list of numbers he can use ”.
She also wishes to create, within the framework of article 16 of the law against all fraud to public aid, “a category of numbers for calls and messages contributing to a general interest objective issued by automated call systems”. They can “only be assigned to organizations whose list is set by a joint decree of ministers responsible for consumer and electronic communications”. In parallel, recalls BFM Tech & Co, from August 11, 2026, companies will no longer be able to approach by phone without an explicit prior consent of the consumer.
