A number starting with +39 appears on your screen, and you are not expecting any calls from Italy. This prefix, assigned to the Italian telephone network by the International Telecommunication Union, is also one of the most commonly hijacked prefixes by scam networks in Europe since the beginning of 2026. Knowing how to read the digits that follow +39 allows you to distinguish a legitimate call from a fraud attempt, even before answering.
What the digits after +39 reveal about the nature of the call
The Italian numbering plan, supervised by AGCOM (Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni), assigns number ranges according to the type of line. The first digit after +39 provides a reliable initial indication.
A number starting with 0 indicates a geographic landline. The prefix 02 corresponds to Milan, 06 to Rome, and 055 to Florence. The total length varies by city, but the presence of the initial 0 consistently points to a landline connected to a specific area.
A number beginning with 3 corresponds to an Italian mobile phone. Operators like TIM, Vodafone Italia, or WindTre use distinct ranges within this segment, which sometimes allows for the identification of the originating network.
Numbers starting with 8 require more caution. Some (800) are freephone numbers for the caller. Others (892, 899) charge sometimes high surcharges. Receiving a call from these ranges and being invited to call back is a classic warning signal.
To recognize a +39 call from Italy with Voyagoo, simply cross-reference the geographic prefix with the context of the call: a 06 Roman number ringing during office hours has a completely different profile than an 899 number received at midnight.
+39 Spoofing: why the Italian prefix has become a fraud tool
The +39 prefix is now among the prefixes classified as “at risk” in national alerts from several European countries, even for recipients who have no connection to Italy. The phenomenon relies on spoofing, a technique that allows a fake caller ID to be displayed using VoIP gateways.
Specifically, a call center located outside of Europe can make a +39 06 number appear on your phone, as if the call were coming from Rome. VoIP technology makes this manipulation accessible and inexpensive. Reporting platforms like tellows.fr have recorded a significant increase in reports related to hijacked Italian numbers since 2025.
Concrete signs of a fraudulent call disguised as +39
- The call lasts only one or two rings (a technique known as “wangiri”), intended to provoke a callback to a premium-rate number.
- The caller asks for personal or banking information while posing as an energy operator, a public service, or an Italian bank.
- The displayed number changes with each attempt, making individual blocking ineffective.
The phone remains, in Italy as in France, the dominant channel for scams. The available data does not allow for precise quantification of the share of spoofing in all +39 calls received in France, but field reports converge: the majority of unsolicited calls from this prefix do not actually originate from Italian territory.
Italian criminal framework and reporting procedures from France
Italy has an explicit legal framework for spoofing +39 numbers. Falsifying the caller ID to deceive the recipient can be classified as computer fraud (Article 640-ter of the Italian Penal Code) and identity theft (Article 494).
Two reporting channels exist on the Italian side:
- The Polizia Postale, responsible for digital crimes, accepts online reports via its portal commissariatodips.it.
- AGCOM can be contacted in case of suspicion of illegal use of the Italian telephone system, including by a foreign recipient.
From France, the most direct reflex remains to report to 33700 (a platform for combating voice and SMS spam). However, this system does not systematically cover international spoofing. No automated cross-border mechanism currently connects the French and Italian reporting databases for this type of fraud.
Legitimate +39 call: French plan and actual cost of reception
Receiving a call from Italy on a French mobile does not incur any additional charges if you are in metropolitan France. The incoming call is free regardless of the plan, even without an international option. Billing only concerns the caller, who is subject to the international rates of their Italian operator.
The situation changes if you are roaming outside the European Union. In this case, receiving an international call may be charged according to your operator’s conditions and the geographical area you are in. Plans that include roaming in Europe (the “Roam Like at Home” regulation) neutralize this additional cost as long as you remain within the EU.
Calling a +39 number from a French landline
From an internet box, the pricing to Italy varies depending on the operator and the type of plan. Some offers include calls to Italian landlines, while others charge by the minute. Calls to Italian mobiles are rarely included in standard box plans. Checking the general conditions of your offer remains the only reliable way to know the exact cost.
Dialing the number from a French landline follows a simple format: 00 39 followed by the full number of the correspondent, including the initial zero. The + sign replaces the 00 on a mobile.
A +39 call is neither trivial nor automatically suspicious. The geographic prefix, the time of the call, the caller’s behavior, and personal context (contacts in Italy, recent order with an Italian company) form a set of clues that, when cross-referenced, allow for an informed decision before answering or calling back.
