South Africa (SA) is facing a growing problem with spam and scam calls, ranking among the ten countries most affected worldwide.
Data from Truecaller shows more than 17.4 billion spam calls were identified in SA during the first six months of this year, a 25% increase on the same period in 2025.
The calls include automated robocalls, aggressive telemarketing and increasingly sophisticated financial scams.
But despite the rise in spam calls, fewer people are answering them.
For many SA citizens, an unknown number flashing on a mobile phone has become an increasingly familiar nuisance.
But behind some of these calls are organised operations using technology to reach thousands of potential victims at very little cost.
Truecaller says it identified 17.47 billion spam calls between January and June this year, up from 13.96 billion during the same period last year.
The company says the scale and sophistication of scam operations are changing rapidly.
Truecaller Director of Market Development Mmathebe Zvobwo says: “The barrier to entry for running a scam operation has dropped dramatically as cheap voice over internet protocol technology and spoofing tools allow scammers to mass dial thousands of numbers a day at almost no cost. And SA remains a highly attractive target for these operations because of its high mobile penetration and strong digital banking adoption. Scam operations have become increasingly organized and industrialized and operating more like professional call centres rather than opportunistic individuals.”
Truecaller says the increase is not limited to calls. It identified 3.71 billion spam messages during the first half of 2026, while users blocked more than 7.1 billion spam calls.
At the same time, there are indications that consumers are becoming more cautious.
“We are finding that the drop in answered spam calls from 10% in the first half of 2025 to about 7.8% the first half of this year shows that the public is more aware and that SA citizens are becoming more cautious about unknown numbers. It also indicates that technology is catching threats earlier, meaning people are far less likely to engage when a number is flagged as high risk before the phone even rings.”
–ChannelAfrica/ Lebogang Mabange–
