New rules aim to stop ‘spoofing’ calls in France: what are these?

New rules aimed at reducing ‘spoofing’ spam calls will come into force on January 1, 2026 in France. 

Spoofing sees fraudsters hide their real number using telephone software, with the information appearing on a person’s phone different to the original caller ID.

This is often used by hackers to impersonate a call from a company such as a bank, at the same time as preventing the call from being easily traced back to them. 

It allows the use of all phones for telemarketing purposes and scams, including standard mobiles.

It is also often used for scammers calling from abroad, to hide that it is an international call. 

Rule changes in October 2024 saw the practice curtailed, but it was only partially effective as scammers were able to largely circumvent the rules by operating outside of France.

Vigilance over international calls

From the start of next year however, France’s electronic communications authority ’Arcep’ will require that calls must display as ‘hidden number’ if coming from a French mobile number calling from abroad that cannot be verified as legitimate.

Any calls showing as ‘hidden number’ will therefore be because the caller has either chosen to hide their number or otherwise because it could not be verified (although Arcep notes in some cases a lack of verification may also come from technical issues). 

Around 80% of legitimate calls from French mobiles abroad can already be authenticated by operators without an issue, meaning genuine calls from friends and family should still display their numbers. 

Verification systems aim to target phones with unusual calling patterns or history, used by scammers.

While it is still your choice to answer, if a call from a ‘hidden number’ claims to be from your bank or another legitimate business, there is a substantial risk it is a scam.