the essentials In 2022, 47,620 consumers reported having been victims of abusive canvassing to the General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF).
Three out of four French people are contacted every week by telephone canvassers on their cell phones, according to UFC Que Choisir, which often plunges them into “a state of stress” in the face of the growing risk of scams. A few months ago, Georgette Guideau, 83, went to the Health Insurance agency near her home, in Haute-Garonne, after a call from a person posing as a health insurance agent. social Security. “You really have to be careful. My granddaughter tells me not to answer numbers I don’t know,” she says.
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In 2022, 47,620 consumers reported having been victims of abusive canvassing to the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF), according to its 2022 activity report. “Sales outside establishments” represent the second category of fines most issued by the DGCCRF, which amounts, in 2022, to nearly 3.5 million euros.
The problem “extends to all ages”
“The problem does not only target the elderly and landline telephones. It extends to all ages,” laments Cédric Musso, director of political action at the consumer association UFC Que Choisir. Guy Cimpaye, 23, received a call in August asking him to take out a more advantageous health insurance contract. “I was hospitalized, the person on the other end of the phone had my personal information, I didn’t ask myself any questions,” he explains. A few minutes later, the student realizes that he has been scammed and cancels the contract. Between September and November, Guy Cimpaye received five calls asking him to take out new health insurance. “I’m being harassed, and it’s putting me in a state of stress. I no longer dare open emails whose origin I don’t know,” he confides.
Legislation on canvassing is moving forward
“We are seeing the strengthening of legislation on canvassing,” observes Romain Bonenfant, general director of the French Telecoms Federation, which brings together all the main French operators (Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom, etc.).
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Abusive telephone canvassing: restricted numbers, sanctions… measures are piling up but the nuisance persists
In 2020, the Naegelen law was adopted, which regulates telephone canvassing and fights against fraudulent calls, through the establishment of time slots dedicated to calls, the ban on canvassing in the field of energy renovation or training. In September 2022, the Electronic Communications Regulatory Authority (Arcep) also launched a new numbering plan, which regulates the numbers used by automated systems, in order to ensure in particular “that abused people can more easily trace the donor of the information. ‘order”. The consumer can also register on Bloctel, a service of the DGCCRF, which prohibits any professional from approaching a consumer registered on this opposition list.
Faced with this persistent phenomenon, the Fraud Department nevertheless recognizes that “certain people registered on Bloctel still report unsolicited calls” because “despite the undeniable progress of professionals in respecting the regulations, some, unscrupulous, attempt to circumvent the law”.
2023-12-21 09:18:52
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