€75,000 fines for nuisance phone callers

More than 150 businesses have been investigated by fraud squad officials over abusive phone calls – and 70 of them have been fined up to €75,000 each as continual phone pests.

The moves are the first concrete action since the Bloctel anti-spam calls service was set up last June and Consumer Minister Martine Pinville said that it came after the web and phone service had received 400,000 complaints.

With three million people signing to Bloctel to say they do not want such calls, more businesses will be targeted in coming weeks and months – and the DGCCRF fraud squad leading the inquiry said about a dozen companies were responsible for two out of every three abusive calls reported.

Reports from the public had also allowed the DGCCRF to start investigations into about 30 companies for fraud relating to surcharged numbers – with 18 of them facing court cases where penalties could reach €1.5million for the business and €300,000 and two years’ jail for the directors. None of the companies concerned was identified.

More than three million people have signed up for Bloctel but many readers have told Connexion they have not noticed any difference in the number of annoying phone calls – and especially those where the phone rings just once.

Ms Pinville has said previously that her officials can only act on information received and the service depends on customers reporting abusive calls. Such calls can be reported on the Bloctel website and abusive text messages can be forwarded in the same way to special number 33700.

However, readers tell us - and we agree - that the Bloctel website is very badly designed and not at all intuitive…

Here is a - sort of - idiot’s guide (but note that the information is a guide and is not definitive in every case):

Go to bloctel.gouv.fr click "Vous êtes un consommateur" (You are a consumer) > then, to subscribe to the service, click "Inscription"

When first signing up it takes 48 hours from filling in your information on the form and giving an email address to receiving a confirmation and then a second email with your subscription number (identity) and access to your personal area on the website ("Espace personnel" and "Mon compte") where you can make your first complaints ("Réclamations").

Once you are registered, it takes one month for your phone number(s) to be included in the Bloctel list. However, you should still be able to register a complaint.

Click through as above to "Espace consommateur" and click "S’identifier" at the top right of the screen, which takes you into the connection page ("Connexion") where you must fill in your email address and password then click the “I am not a robot” checkbox > "Valider".

On the next screen ("Mes informations personnelles") you have to register your landline or mobile number ("Gérer mes numéros"). Once this is done, click the white box "Dépot de reclamation" on the same page (or return to it if the system has taken you away).

At the bottom of the next page, is some advice detailing what information is needed and a list of three options:
"Le type de contact –
Un appel téléphonique reçu
Un SMS ou MMS
Un courriel"

Check the box beside the one you want to report and then fill in the boxes that appear at the bottom of the screen with your phone number that received the call, and click Yes to the next two questions. Then >"Suite".

Under the heading “Le professionnel ayant émis l'appel” click No to all questions (as you do not know the caller) > then fill in the box with the number that called you, ignore the “Nom de la société qui vous a appelée” and “Nom/Prénom de la personne qui vous a appelée” lines then click down through the list of responses under “Secteur d'activité du démarcheur**” and find the line that says “Inconnu (je ne connais pas l’activité du démarcheur) and click it.

Then give the date of the call and the rough timing (set in hour bands) then, finally, click "Enregistrer".