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
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