Orange scam campaign turns phishing calls and texts into music

Orange started a TV and online video campaign in France on 11 October that turns scam calls and texts into music. The film is called “Scamcophonie”, a mix of “scam” and the French word for cacophony. The Orange scam campaign was made by Publicis Conseil and runs until 1 November, French trade sites reported.

Publicis Conseil built the Orange film from ringtones and alerts

The film promotes Orange Cybersecure, the operator’s service that blocks fraudulent calls and phishing messages. Ringtones, phone vibrations, repeated alerts, fake parcel texts and suspicious emails form the soundtrack. The tone is upbeat. According to e-marketing.fr, the idea is to celebrate the relief people feel when the threat goes away, not the threat itself.

Bradley & Pablo directed the film for production company Wanda. Prodigious produced the sound with composer Brice Davoli. Razorfish runs the social media part, which Dans Ta Pub says is aimed at teaching families how to avoid fraud.

Orange times the film with European Cybersecurity Month

The campaign runs on TV and video on demand during October, which the EU marks as European Cybersecurity Month. Dans Ta Pub noted that millions of French people face such scam attempts. None of the three trade reports gave figures on fraud or on how many customers use Orange Cybersecure.

Scam ads and scam messages are a growing legal issue for platforms too. Poland has asked the EU to fine Meta €250m over scam ads, and a Frankfurt court held Meta liable for fake ads using a finance brand’s name.

Orange keeps Scamcophonie on air until 1 November

Orange chose humour and sound instead of warnings. The question is whether more customers switch on Cybersecure after three weeks of the film. Orange has not said whether it will share sign-up numbers after the campaign ends on 1 November.