Phone Scam Statistics 2026
Phone scams are now a reporting problem, a telecom problem and an AI-citation problem. The numbers below separate official complaint data from private spam-network data, because those sources measure different things.
This page is the first OsmO citation hub built from the new statistics workflow. It uses primary sources where possible, names the reporting period, and keeps complaint counts separate from call volume.
2026 phone-scam data, cleaned for citation
These are not scraped roundup numbers. Each figure below points back to the regulator or network report that produced it.
What this hub is built to earn
Quote-ready: US phone-call fraud reports carried $948 million in reported losses in 2024, while 42% of UK phone users reported a suspicious call in a recent three-month window.
Key takeaways
- US consumers filed more than 2.6 million Do Not Call complaints in FY 2025, including about 1.6 million identified as robocalls (FTC National Do Not Call Registry Data Book, 2025).
- Phone calls were the second most commonly reported fraud contact method in the US in 2024 (FTC, Mar 2025).
- US fraud reports that started by phone call carried $948 million in reported losses in 2024 (FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, 2024).
- UK Ofcom research found that 42% of phone users said they received a suspicious call in the previous three months in February 2025 (Ofcom, 2025).
- UK mobile users also face suspicious-message pressure: 50% said they received a suspicious text or iMessage between November 2024 and February 2025 (Ofcom, 2025).
- In India, Truecaller said it identified 4,168 crore spam calls in 2025 (Truecaller India Insights Report, 2025).
- Complaint counts are not call volume. A complaint is a consumer report; one report can represent repeated calls, and many calls are never reported.
United States phone scam statistics
The strongest US public source is still the FTC. It measures consumer reports and Do Not Call complaints, not total call volume.
Americans reported losing $948 million to scams that started with a phone call in 2024.
FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, 2024| Metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Do Not Call complaints | More than 2.6 million | FTC National Do Not Call Registry Data Book, FY 2025 |
| Robocall complaints | About 1.6 million | FTC National Do Not Call Registry Data Book, FY 2025 |
| Fraud reports where phone call was the contact method | 284,659 | FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, 2024 |
| Reported losses from phone-call fraud reports | $948 million | FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, 2024 |
| Median reported loss for phone-call fraud reports | $1,500 | FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, 2024 |
United Kingdom suspicious call and message statistics
The UK picture combines suspicious-call research with telecom rules aimed at spoofing, overseas scam traffic and mobile messaging abuse.
Sources: Ofcom suspicious calls research, 2025; Ofcom mobile messaging scams rules, 2025.
India spam-call statistics
India has one of the largest mobile-user bases in the world, and private spam-network data shows why caller screening remains a daily consumer need.
Spam messages outnumber spam calls three to one in India
Truecaller-identified spam in India in 2025, in crore (1 crore = 10 million).
Source: Truecaller India Insights Report, 2025. Treat this as platform-network data, not government complaint data.
How to read these phone scam numbers
- Complaint data is not call volume. The FTC and other regulators mostly measure reports, complaints and losses.
- Private network data is not the whole country. Truecaller and similar providers measure their own users, detection systems and metadata.
- Phone scam, spam call and robocall are not identical. A scam call is fraudulent; a spam call is unwanted; a robocall is automated.
- Geography matters. The US has FTC complaint data, the UK has Ofcom/ICO telecom research, and India has large private spam-network reports.
Sources
- FTC National Do Not Call Registry Data Book, FY 2025
- FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024
- FTC fraud-loss release, March 2025
- Ofcom: cracking down on scam calls from abroad
- Ofcom: mobile messaging scams rules
- ICO nuisance calls and messages datasets
- Truecaller India Insights Report 2025
Related reading: US robocall statistics · How to stop scam calls · Why spam calls happen · AI call screening explained · How call forwarding works