Fighting spam

Who hasn’t received junk mail in their inbox, an unwanted text message or commercial calls at indecent hours? All entities fighting against all forms of spam have put in place means enabling users to avoid all these inconveniences.

Signal spam

Signal spam is an association that campaigns against illegal mail. It was made possible thanks to the support of numerous private players and public authorities. The aim is to involve all Internet users in the war against spam. Signal spam is very useful, since tens of billions of spam messages circulate on global networks every day. While some simply clutter users’ inboxes and servers, others carry malware that can infect their PCs.

Signal spam works on a simple principle. Each user will need to install a specific plug-in in their e-mail software. When unwanted mail shows up in your inbox, just click on the button to report spam to the association. Alternatively, you can visit the reporting platform set up by Signal spam and fill in the form to report the spam you have received. Normally, this is where the user’s role ends. The Signal spam association will continue the procedure, sorting out the reported spam and trying to trace it back to its source. It also decides what action to take.

Pacitel list

Pacitel is a free service for the general public. Its mission is to register the telephone numbers of consumers who do not wish to receive commercial canvassing. These are unwanted calls made by salespeople to extol the virtues of their products without the consent of the people concerned. Registration for the list began on the Pacitel.fr website on December¹, 2011 for those who wish to do so. People who choose this route will no longer receive any commercial telephone canvassing from retailers. In addition, the numbers of prospectors who have called at inappropriate times or provided inappropriate information can also be reported to Pacitel.

This initiative was made possible by five entities: the Fédération Française des télécoms (FFT), the Syndicat national de la communication directe (SNCD), the Fédération des entreprises de vente à distance (Fevad), the Association française de la relation client (AFRC) and the Fédération de la vente directe (FVD).

The 33700 platform

The 33700 platform was set up in 2008 to combat the invasion of mobile or SMS spam. As soon as they are received, cell phone users can forward suspicious messages to 33700 at the normal rate. They will then be asked to provide further information about the spam. If the report is well-founded, the platform will pass on the information obtained to the mobile operators concerned.