By Lebone Rodah Mosima
South Africa has been ranked among the 10 countries most affected by spam calls globally, with nearly 30% of unknown calls identified as spam, according to Truecaller’s latest Global Insights Report.
The report, which analysed more than 68 billion spam and fraud calls worldwide in 2025, ranked South Africa ninth globally for spam intensity, behind Nigeria, Uruguay, Mexico, India, Brazil, Vietnam, Chile and Indonesia.
Nigeria was the worst-affected African country in the ranking, with 51% of unknown calls identified as spam, placing it eighth globally. South Africa followed at 30%, ahead of Italy at 28%.
Truecaller said the data showed spam and fraud had shifted from human-driven scams to automated, “machine-scale” systems, with fraudsters increasingly using caller ID spoofing, artificial intelligence and high-volume call systems to target consumers.
The company said that in South Africa, the pattern differed from most global markets, where financial scams and telecom-related spam dominate. Insurance-related calls made up the largest share of spam locally at 14%, followed by financial services at 10% and debt collection at 6%.
“This is a uniquely South African trend,” said Mmathebe Zvobwo, Truecaller’s director of market development for South Africa.
“It shows that spam in our market is not only about fraud; it’s also about aggressive, high-volume outreach that erodes trust in legitimate communication,” she said.
“When people stop answering their phones, the entire communication ecosystem breaks down — for individuals, businesses, and institutions,” she said.
Truecaller said its South African data showed the problem was accelerating in 2026, with 8.72 billion spam calls identified in the first quarter, compared with 30.3 billion in all of 2025.
The company said 3.33 billion spam calls were identified in March alone, up 34% year-on-year.
It also identified 1.92 billion spam messages in South Africa in the first quarter of 2026 and said more than 151 million new spammers were detected in March, compared with an average of one million a month in 2025.
The company said South Africa was also one of Africa’s leading markets for blocked calls, with 11.3 billion calls blocked in 2025 and 3.45 billion blocked in the first quarter of 2026, up 80% year on year.
Truecaller chief executive Rishit Jhunjhunwala said the rise in spam and fraud had become a trust issue.
“The scale of what this data shows should concern everyone. Fraud, impersonation, and scams are affecting people’s daily lives in a way we have never seen before,” he said.
“In some countries, most unknown calls are now spam — that is a fundamental breakdown in how communication works.”
The report said consumers should be cautious of urgent or emotionally manipulative calls, avoid sharing PINs, one-time passwords or passwords over the phone, avoid clicking unknown SMS links and independently verify callers when in doubt.
“The challenge is growing, but so is our ability to help people take back control of their communication,” Zvobwo said.
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