[imagesource: New York Times]

I basically class any call that isn’t cleared ahead of time a spam call.

It’s really not that hard to send a WhatsApp asking if now is a good time before making a call. Sorry, but your convenience doesn’t override what I’m doing at any given point.

Naturally, my aversion to unsolicited calls makes Truecaller one of my most treasured apps, but in the past few months, there’s been a marked increase in the number of calls getting through to me.

The stats bear that out, with Truecaller having released its Insight Report for 2020 earlier in the week, showing a global increase in spam calls over the past few months:

Image: Truecaller

That same trend appears if we look at spam calls in South Africa this year:

Image: Truecaller

Even the spammers went into lockdown, it appears, but they’re back with a bang.

Whilst you may have noticed an uptick over the past few months, year-on-year numbers show that the volume of calls has actually dropped.

Cape Town Etc breaks down South Africa’s numbers as follows:

In 2019, South Africa ranked in as the sixth-highest spammed country in the world.  This year, it is now the 17th most spammed country globally. Users are on average receiving 11.3 spam calls a month compared to 25.2 spam calls from last year’s findings.

For the first time in three years, spam calls in South Africa have decreased, although insurance and scam calls continue to be a big threat for consumers.

Here’s a look at spam calls broken down by culprits:

Image: Truecaller

Insurance companies will ring you no matter what, but make a claim and all of a sudden they’re not so friendly.

More from Truecaller:

In the past 3 years, South Africa has consistently been one of the most spammed countries in the world…

Looking closer at the trends in South Africa, spam calls saw a 59% dive from March to April, in correlation to the lockdown in the country. However, from April to October there has been a 191% increase of spam calls…

Comparing the month of October with March, spam calls are at all-time high (17% higher than pre-lockdown).

For a look at the 20 worst countries in the world, see below:

I know, your poor eyes. Click on the image and the full-size image will open.

Not a pretty state of affairs in Brazil, is it?

First, let’s hope Truecaller and other measures help curb the number of spam calls we receive.

Once that’s taken care of, let’s work on ensuring people who send voicenotes go in with a clear plan.

There really is no need to spend the first minute rambling before you get to the point.

[sources:truecaller&capetownetc]