French short numbers of three to four digits are assigned by ARCEP to emergency services, public bodies, and regulated customer services. Knowing them matters both for reaching the right service quickly and for spotting fraudsters who impersonate them.
Emergency and public service short numbers
- 15 — SAMU (medical emergencies)
- 17 — Police
- 18 — Fire brigade
- 112 — European emergency number
- 115 — SAMU Social (homeless emergency shelter)
- 119 — Child protection hotline
- 3114 — National suicide prevention line
- 3939 — Allô Service Public (administrative information)
- 3646 — Ameli / health insurance queries
These numbers are never used to call you for administrative or commercial purposes. French public services never ask for bank details over the phone. When in doubt, hang up and call back on the official number listed at service-public.fr. Search any suspicious ten-digit number on TelCheck and report fraud via Signal Conso (signalconso.gouv.fr).