Short answer: a text message from a foreign dialling code (+44, +1, +212, +225, or a strangely displayed +33…) is neither premium-rated nor dangerous simply because you received it: receiving a text is always free in France, even from the other side of the world. The risk starts if you click a link, if you call the number back, or if you reply. The right reaction: touch nothing, block the sender, forward the message to 33700, then delete it.
Updated 4 November 2026.
One morning, your phone buzzes. The sender isn't a name, isn't a 36xxx short code, isn't even a French mobile number: it's a long number starting with a + and two or three digits you don't recognise. The message itself is in French — sometimes very good French, sometimes with odd syntax — and asks you to confirm a delivery, to call your "adviser" back, or simply offers a cheery "Hi, it's Julie, do you remember me?".
This pattern has become one of the most common forms of SMS spam, for a simple reason: sending from a gateway abroad costs less and bypasses some of the filters French carriers apply to short codes and alphanumeric senders. Here's how to read these numbers and respond properly.
Does receiving a text from a foreign number cost anything?
No. In France, receiving a text message is free, whatever the sender's country of origin, and this isn't a commercial policy but the very structure of the network: the sender pays to route the message. You could therefore receive a hundred texts from Nigeria or the United Kingdom without a single cent showing up on your bill.
Three exceptions to keep in mind, and they explain most nasty surprises:
- You reply. A text sent to a foreign number is almost never included in a French plan: expect to pay around €0.20 to €0.50 per message depending on the zone and the carrier — check the rate card for your own plan.
- You call back. This is the heart of the "ping call" adapted to SMS: the number displayed may route to a special-rate destination (satellite, islands, revenue-sharing numbers) billed at several euros a minute.
- You are abroad yourself, outside the European Union: there, receiving stays free, but sending a reply can be billed at your carrier's roaming rate.
Remember: a text you receive costs you nothing. The trap is always the action it asks you to take.
How do you read a dialling code to know where the message came from?
The dialling code is the digits immediately following the +. It identifies the country under the international numbering plan defined by the International Telecommunication Union (recommendation E.164). The ones most often seen in French inboxes:
| Code | Country / zone | What you most often see from it |
|---|---|---|
| +33 | France | Normal French number: 06/07 (mobile), 01 to 05 (landline), 09 (router/VoIP) |
| +32, +41, +34, +49 | Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Germany | Commercial platforms, genuine European companies, sometimes spam |
| +44 | United Kingdom | Bulk-sending gateways, fake bank and parcel texts |
| +1 | United States / Canada | Verification codes from US services (Google, WhatsApp, X) |
| +212, +216, +225, +221 | Morocco, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Senegal | "Wrong number" messages, romance scams, bogus investments |
| +62, +63, +84 | Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam | Mass spam, fake job offers, crypto |
Two useful clarifications. First, a dialling code says nothing about the scammer's actual location: A2P (application-to-person) sending platforms let anyone rent numbers in any country from any country. Second, a French number can perfectly well be spoofed: the sender display on a text message isn't authenticated, and that's the whole problem with spoofing, which we cover in detail in our article on sender spoofing.
The case of badly formatted French numbers
You'll often see variants such as +33 6 12 34 56 78, 0033612345678, 33612345678 or +336 1234 5678. These are different ways of writing the same French number. A legitimate sender (a bank, a courier) writing from a contact centre abroad may well appear this way, simply because its system hasn't normalised the display. On its own, then, this isn't a sign of a scam.
Which texts from a foreign number are legitimate?
There are more than you'd think, and dismissing them out of reflex means missing real information. Four families come up again and again:
- Verification codes from non-European services. Creating an account on a US or Asian service, reinstalling WhatsApp, enabling two-factor authentication on a crypto wallet: the code frequently arrives from a +1, a +44 or a +852. If you've just requested the code, it's legitimate. If not, it's a signal that someone is trying to get into one of your accounts — a scenario we explore in our article on verification codes you didn't request.
- Booking and delivery platforms: confirmations from Booking, Uber, Airbnb, drivers, hotels abroad. The dialling code then matches the country of your stay or of the company's head office.
- A relative travelling with a local SIM card or a travel eSIM. This is the most ordinary situation, and the one that deserves a verification call before any money is sent.
- Offshore call centres working for French companies: after-sales service, appointment booking, debt collection. They operate legally, but their caller display muddies the picture.
What are the most common fraud scenarios from abroad?
Campaigns sent from international numbers almost always follow one of these five scripts. Recognising them takes ten seconds.
The wrong-number stranger. "Hi, it's Marie, sorry about this message, is this Paul's number?" No request, no link: just a conversation opener. The aim is to get you to reply so that trust can be built over several weeks, then to pitch an "investment" or a "trading platform". It's the SMS version of the romance scam, and it is formidably patient.
The fake bank text. A +44 tells you an outgoing transfer needs confirming, with a link and a number to call. Calling back puts you through to a very well-prepared fake adviser: the full mechanism is described in our analysis of the fake bank adviser scam.
The fake parcel. A few euros of customs fees to pay, with a link to a bank card form. Coming from a foreign number, the "your parcel is coming from China" argument even sounds plausible.
The fake job offer. "Work-from-home position, €300 a day, reply YES." The conversation then moves to WhatsApp or Telegram.
The premium-rate callback. A deliberately alarming or mysterious message, with a number to call in a country with high call rates. Here the scammer isn't stealing your data: they live off the per-minute charge.
The signals to check before believing a message
- A country/service mismatch: La Poste, Ameli, your bank or the tax authorities never write from a +44 or a +225.
- A shortened link or a domain name that's almost right (
.top,.icu,.shop, an added hyphen, a doubled letter). - Urgency with a number attached: "within 24 hours", "before midnight", "final reminder".
- A request for a code, a password, an IBAN or a photo of your ID. No legitimate organisation asks for these by text.
- A move to WhatsApp or Telegram, where no carrier rule applies any more.
What should you actually do, step by step?
- Don't click anything and don't call back. Even an "unsubscribe" link in a message from abroad is nothing more than confirmation that your number is active.
- Don't reply STOP. Replying STOP is a right enforceable against senders using French short codes governed by AF2M; it carries no weight against a gateway abroad and costs you the price of an international text on top. We explain this limit in our article on replying STOP.
- Report it to 33700. Forward the message to 33700 (free, all carriers), then reply to the confirmation text giving the sender's number. The scheme, presented on our dedicated 33700 page, accepts international senders: it's the accumulation of reports that allows sending routes to be blocked.
- Block the number. On iPhone: open the conversation → tap the number at the top → Info → Block this Caller. On Android with Google Messages: long-press the conversation → Block → tick Report as spam.
- Filter unknown senders. iOS offers Settings → Apps → Messages → Filter Unknown Senders, which files these messages in a separate tab. Google Messages has spam protection you can turn on in Settings → Spam protection.
- Delete after reporting. Keep a screenshot if you're considering filing a complaint.
- If you clicked or paid: call your bank immediately, cancel the card, change the passwords concerned and file a complaint. The useful timeline is set out in the 72 hours after a click.
How can you lastingly reduce the flow of international texts?
No setting blocks "all foreign numbers" on a consumer phone: neither iOS nor Android offers filtering by dialling code, and as of November 2026 French carriers offer no public option of that kind for incoming texts. So you act upstream and downstream.
Upstream: limit your number's exposure. This is where everything is decided. A number that circulates little receives little. In practice: a secondary number for forms, classified ads and commercial sign-ups, and your real number reserved for family, your bank and government bodies. A travel eSIM or a second prepaid SIM card is enough, and a dual-SIM phone or a dual-SIM adapter makes the arrangement painless day to day. We describe the full method in compartmentalising your main number.
Downstream: sort without thinking about it. Turn on the built-in filters, accept that the "unknown senders" tab exists and only check it once a week. Very old phones, still numerous, don't offer these filters: for a parent using a button phone for seniors, sorting stays manual and human support counts for more than technology.
On account hygiene. Since most of these texts target a login, what matters is how solid your accounts are. Two habits that pay off: a password manager so you never reuse the same password, and a physical FIDO2 security key for your most critical accounts (main email, bank, carrier account). With a key, an intercepted SMS code is no longer enough to get in. A book on cybersecurity for private individuals is also useful in a household where several adults share the same tools.
On verification. Get into the habit of never using the number given in a text: call the one printed on the back of your bank card, on your bill or on the official website. It's the only rule that holds up against every variant of scam, present and future.
Where to check, and who to report to?
- 33700: the cross-carrier platform for reporting unwanted texts and calls, free of charge. Details on our 33700 page.
- cybermalveillance.gouv.fr: official factsheets on smishing (SMS phishing) and support for victims.
- signal.conso.gouv.fr: reporting a misleading commercial practice to the DGCCRF (French consumer protection authority).
- Service-public.fr: procedures in case of bank fraud and the right to a refund for an unauthorised payment (article L133-18 of the French Monetary and Financial Code).
- Arcep: the French numbering plan and carriers' obligations, useful for understanding what a number can and cannot be.
- To decode any sender whatsoever, our guide to decoding a short code or an unknown +33 complements this one.
Frequently asked questions
Can a text received from a foreign number hack my phone?
No, not merely by being received. Standard text messages contain no executable code. The danger comes from the link it contains, from the app you're asked to install outside the official store, or from the information you enter yourself.
Why is the message in good French if it comes from far away?
Because campaigns are written and machine-translated, then reused by the thousand. Flawless spelling is no longer a guarantee of authenticity in 2026: only the sender, the link and the request matter.
Do I have to block each number one by one?
You can, but the return is poor: senders change numbers constantly. Blocking is mainly useful against an identified harasser. For mass spam, the "unknown senders" filter and reporting to 33700 are more effective.
Can I find out who the number belongs to?
Rarely. International reverse directories give you the carrier and the country of allocation at best, never the holder — and many of these sites themselves make their living from harvesting data. Better not to enter your own number on them.
What if it really is a relative writing from abroad?
Call them on their usual number or check through another channel before doing anything, especially where money is involved. That's exactly the mechanism behind the "Mum, I've changed my number" scenario, covered in our guide to protecting an elderly parent.
