Short answer: yes, French pharmacies do send genuine text messages — "your medicine has arrived", "your prescription is about to expire", "your order is ready until the 12th". These messages come from a short code (38xxx, 36xxx), an alphanumeric sender ID or the pharmacy's landline number, are free to receive and contain no payment link. The moment a "pharmacy" text demands a fee, a full Carte Vitale number or your login details, it's a scam: forward it to 33700.
Updated 1 November 2026.
It's the kind of text you read quickly, without suspicion: it comes from the pharmacy round the corner, the one you visit every month. The tone is ordinary, the message is two lines long, and there's nothing to do but drop by and pick up a bag. Exactly the sort of message nobody thinks twice about — and that is precisely why scammers are interested in it.
For two years now, health-related texts have become a playground: test results, medical appointments, health insurance top-ups, and now pharmacies. The script is always the same: a plausible message, an emotion (relief, urgency, worry), a link. Here's how to sort them out.
Can my pharmacy really send me a text message?
Yes, and it's very common. The vast majority of pharmacy management software packages (LGPI, Winpharma, Smart Rx, Pharmaland, etc.) include an SMS module, used for three things:
- order availability: a medicine not held in stock, ordered the previous evening, delivered by the wholesaler in the morning;
- prescription reminders: for a renewable long-term treatment, a message before the last box runs out;
- logistics: flu vaccination, antigen test, a preparation to collect before closing time, on-call opening hours.
These messages are possible because you left your number at the counter, usually when your patient record was created or when you placed an order. They fall under the care relationship and the fulfilment of a request: the pharmacy doesn't need you to sign a form before telling you a medicine has arrived. On the other hand, as soon as it becomes promotional (health and beauty products, special offers, sun creams), it moves into commercial marketing, which requires your prior consent — that's the principle set out by the CNIL on marketing by text message.
Another point worth knowing: medical confidentiality. A well-written pharmacy text never names the medicine. "Your order is ready" is fine; "Your box of [drug name] has arrived" leaks information to anyone who glances at your lock screen. If your pharmacy is too talkative, you can ask it to stop: discretion is part of its obligations.
What does a genuine pharmacy text look like?
Three signatures come up again and again.
| Sender type | Example display | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Five-digit short code | 38xxx, 36xxx | Sent via a professional platform; free to receive, STOP reply possible |
| Sender name | "PHARMACIE", "PharmaVille" | Alphanumeric sender ID: readable, but not reserved and therefore easy to imitate |
| The pharmacy's landline number | 01 to 05, sometimes 09 | Text sent with the pharmacy's number as the sender |
And the content almost always follows the same structure: the pharmacy's name, the point of the message, a collection deadline, opening hours. No link. That's the single most useful criterion: a pharmacy has nothing for you to click on. You have no file to complete, no fee to pay, no account to reactivate — you just need to drop by.
If you receive a text from a landline number starting 01 or 04 and that surprises you, how it works is explained in detail in our article on texts sent from a landline number. For five-digit numbers, see what lies behind a 38xxx short code.
Which fake pharmacy texts are circulating in 2026?
Four scenarios dominate. All of them are built on a genuine use case, twisted one notch.
"Your prescription has expired, renew it online"
The message invites you to "put things right" via a link, often mentioning a teleconsultation. The page asks for your name, date of birth and social security number, then a bank card for an "administration fee" of a few euros. The amount is deliberately small: it serves to confirm the card is active and to collect your full details for a bigger operation later on. A prescription is never renewed by text message: it is renewed at the doctor's, or by the pharmacist themselves in the cases permitted for a long-term treatment.
"€1.99 delivery charge for your medicine order"
A local variant of the parcel scam. As with the fake customs fee text, the small amount disarms your vigilance. But a high-street pharmacy that delivers to your home takes payment at the counter or on delivery, not through a link received ten minutes after your visit.
"Your Carte Vitale must be updated before the 30th"
Here the sender impersonates the national health insurance system more than the pharmacy, but the message often arrives just after a visit to the chemist's, which makes it credible. Updating a Carte Vitale is free and is done at the terminals in pharmacies, at a health insurance office reception desk or through the Carte Vitale app. Ameli points out that it never asks for bank details by text: the reference page is the scams and fraud section of ameli.fr.
"Batch recall: your medicine is affected"
The most insidious one, because it touches on something real — the ANSM (French medicines agency) does indeed publish batch withdrawals. The fake text offers a "compensation form" or an "exchange". Real recalls go through the pharmacy, the doctor and public announcements from the ANSM, never through an individual text message with a banking form.
How to decide in ten seconds
Four questions, in this order.
- Is there a link? A genuine pharmacy text doesn't need one. A shortened link, a domain ending in
.top,.icu,.shop, or a name that looks like an official site with an extra hyphen (ameli-sante.fr): that's it, go no further. - Does the message ask for money or data? Bank card, full social security number, login details, a photo of your Carte Vitale: no pharmacy asks for any of that by message.
- Did I order anything? If you haven't been to the pharmacy for three weeks and nobody has ordered anything for you, there's no such thing as coincidence.
- What does the real number say? Look up your pharmacy's phone number in your contacts, in its window or in the directory — not the one given in the text — and call. Thirty seconds is enough to settle the matter.
One useful habit: never verify a text using the information contained in that same text. It's the general rule that applies to banks and the tax office as much as to pharmacies, and you'll find it again in our analysis of the fake adviser scam where someone calls right after the message.
For people on long-term treatment who receive a lot of these messages, a weekly pill organiser kept next to the phone helps far beyond simply organising doses: when you know exactly where you stand with your boxes, a text announcing you're about to run out or that a prescription has expired no longer creates any urgency — and therefore no panic to exploit.
How do I stop texts I never asked for?
Two cases need to be distinguished.
Service messages from your pharmacy (order ready, prescription reminder): just ask at the counter, "please remove my number from my record" or "please stop sending me reminders". This is your right to object under the GDPR, and the pharmacist must act on it.
Marketing texts coming from a short code: reply STOP to the same number. The reply is free and mandatory for any commercial text campaign. If nothing changes after a few days, that's a strong sign the sender is not the professional it claims to be. How the mechanism works, its limits and the cases where you should definitely not reply are set out in our article on replying STOP to short codes.
Absolute rule: never reply STOP to a fraudulent text. You would simply be confirming that your number is active and read.
What to do with a fake pharmacy text
The procedure is short and worth the effort.
- Don't click, and don't call back the number given in the message.
- Report it to 33700: forward the text to 33700, then send the sender's number in a second message when prompted. It's free, and it's the official scheme for fighting fraudulent text messages. Our page on reporting a text to 33700 sets out the steps, and we've explained what actually happens to a report.
- Report the link on Phishing Initiative if you noted it down: this speeds up its blocking in browsers.
- Block the sender in your messaging app, then delete the message.
- Warn your pharmacy if its name is being misused. The pharmacies concerned would rather know: they often put up a notice at the counter and alert their more vulnerable patients.
What if I've already clicked and paid?
Act within the hour. Call your bank to block the card, request a refund on the grounds of an unauthorised payment (Articles L133-18 et seq. of the French Monetary and Financial Code), change any passwords you may have entered, and file a complaint. The full sequence, with the deadlines that matter, is described in our guide to the 72 hours after falling for a scam text. Remember to check the following month's statements too: hidden subscription debits rarely show up straight away.
Shrinking the attack surface: three habits that work
The best protection isn't technical, it's organisational.
- Give the right number in the right place. If you have a second number reserved for shops and services, use it for health and beauty purchases and keep the main one for care. We've set out the second-number method in detail.
- Save your pharmacy's real number in your contacts, under a clear name. A text that lands in an already-named conversation is immediately easier to read — even if it isn't proof in itself, since sender spoofing exists.
- Keep a paper record of your treatments. A treatment tracking notebook, or simply a folder where you file your current prescriptions, lets you answer "does my prescription really expire this week?" in two seconds. For older people, a phone with large buttons and a very short contact list mechanically reduces exposure: fewer messages read in a hurry, fewer chances to click.
Two accessories help without costing you any vigilance: a bedside table phone stand, which stops you checking your messages half asleep — the moment when judgement is at its weakest — and a clip-on reading light so you can re-read a text or a prescription without relying on a vague impression. Text message scams rely on quick reading; anything that slows it down protects you.
The questions people ask
Can a pharmacy write the name of my medicine in a text message? It should avoid doing so. Medical confidentiality covers the nature of your treatment, and a text message shows up on a locked screen. Well-configured messages say "your order is ready", with no details. You can ask your pharmacy to adopt that wording.
My text comes from a mobile number starting 06 and claims to be my pharmacy: is that credible? It's possible — some small pharmacies send from a work mobile — but it's also the setup scammers use most. Check by calling the pharmacy's official landline number. An 06 number with a link in the message: scam, no discussion.
Do pharmacy texts cost anything? No. Receiving a text is free in France, including from a short code. Only certain services require a paid message from you, and a pharmacy will never ask you for one.
I clicked the link but didn't enter anything. Am I at risk? The risk is low: opening a page isn't enough to empty an account. Don't enter anything, close the tab, don't install any app it offers, and report the text to 33700. Keep an eye on your accounts for a few weeks.
How can I find out who's behind the short code texting me? Short code ranges are allocated through AF2M and the mobile operators. Our page on SMS short codes explains the 3xxxx, 2xxxx and 6xxxx families, and the article Where did this text come from? gives the step-by-step identification method.
