South Africans block billions of spam calls amid tougher consumer protection crackdown
Between January and June this year, Truecaller detected 17.47 billion spam calls, a sharp 25.2% increase from the 13.96 billion recorded in the same period of 2025.
South Africans are grappling with a surge in spam calls, driven by scammers' use of caller ID spoofing and AI-generated scripts. Truecaller's 2026 South Africa Spam Report reveals a 25.2% increase in spam calls from January to June 2026, with users blocking 7.18 billion calls, a 58.6% rise compared to the previous year. Spam messages also rose by nearly 59%, with 3.71 billion identified.
Truecaller users reported 559 million new spam numbers between March and June, strengthening machine-learning models for filtering threats. South Africans are becoming more cautious, with answered spam calls falling from 10.2% in 2025 to 7.8% in 2026. Fraudsters now impersonate bank fraud departments, spoof local numbers, and use AI to mimic human speech, making deception detection difficult.
Truecaller's director of Market Development for South Africa, Mmathebe Zvobwo, warned that scam networks are becoming more sophisticated. In April 2026, South Africa's Consumer Protection Act was amended, with the National Consumer Commission (NCC) tasked with managing the national opt-out registry, enforcing compliance, and punishing violations.
The amendments introduce "cleansing," requiring direct marketers to remove opted-out consumers from their databases monthly. Public frustration with telemarketing and spam calls has led South Africans to report companies to regulators, with the Information Regulator considering a guidance note to regulate the telemarketing industry.
The combination of technological defenses and regulatory measures aims to protect consumers, but vigilance remains crucial in the face of evolving scam tactics.
Written by urgent.news from The Citizen's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
