If your phone rings and your first instinct is suspicion instead of curiosity, welcome to modern life. Spam calls have evolved far beyond awkward robocalls about “extended warranties.” Today’s scammers use spoofed numbers, AI-generated voices, and convincing impersonation tactics to trick people into giving away personal data, login credentials, or even money. According to PR Newswire, there were over 48 billion robocalls in the first 11 months of 2025, with an average of nearly 130 million unwanted calls per day in November alone – that’s about 1,490 calls every second worldwide.
Nearly 92% of Americans report receiving spam calls, and more than two-thirds say they get at least one scam call each week. What used to be a mild annoyance has become a real security threat, and these calls aren’t random. Your phone number often ends up on shady lists through data breaches, sketchy apps, leaked databases, or careless online habits, and once it’s there, it spreads fast.
This guide will show you how to stop spam calls effectively, reduce how often your number is targeted, and protect yourself from fraud and identity theft. We’ll also look at how smarter privacy habits, including tools like a VPN, help keep your data out of the wrong hands before spammers ever get it.
What Are Spam Calls?
Spam calls are unsolicited phone calls made to your number without your consent, usually for advertising, deception, or outright fraud. While some are merely annoying sales pitches, many are designed to manipulate, pressure, or scare you into taking action, and that’s where they become dangerous. These calls often come in waves, repeat relentlessly, and use increasingly sophisticated techniques to appear legitimate.
Robocalls
Robocalls are automated calls that play pre-recorded messages instead of connecting you to a real person. They’re cheap to run, easy to scale, and can dial thousands of numbers per minute. Some robocalls are legal (like appointment reminders), but spam robocalls usually promote fake services, scams, or misleading offers. Because they’re automated, blocking one number rarely stops them; the system simply switches to another.
Scam Calls
Scam calls are designed to trick you into giving away sensitive information or money. Common examples include fake tech support, “urgent” calls from your bank, tax authority impersonations, or messages claiming suspicious activity on your account. These calls rely on fear and urgency to override logic, often insisting you act immediately.
Telemarketing
Not all telemarketing is illegal, but unwanted sales calls still count as spam if you didn’t opt in. These calls often come from third-party marketers who purchased your number from data brokers or lead lists, sometimes without proper consent.
Caller ID Spoofing
Caller ID spoofing allows scammers to disguise their real number, making it look like a local call, a trusted company, or even someone you know. This dramatically increases answer rates and makes spam harder to detect.
Why Spam Calls Are on the Rise
Spam calls have surged because phone numbers are easier than ever to obtain and abuse. Massive data breaches regularly leak phone numbers into the wild. Online platforms, public profiles, and poorly secured databases are scraped automatically. Add automated dialing systems and number spoofing technology, and spammers can reach millions of people at almost no cost, turning your phone into their favorite attack surface.
Why You Keep Getting Spam Calls
Spam calls are rarely random. In most cases, your phone number has already been exposed somewhere, and once it enters the data ecosystem, it can be copied, sold, and reused endlessly. Understanding how your number escaped helps you prevent further abuse.
Your Number Was Exposed in a Data Breach
Data breaches are one of the biggest sources of spam calls. When companies get hacked, leaked databases often contain phone numbers along with emails and names. These datasets quickly circulate on forums and underground markets, where scammers and telemarketers pick them up. Even trusted services can become weak points if their security fails.
Your Number Was Harvested from Public Sources
Publicly visible phone numbers are easy targets. Social media profiles, business pages, online marketplaces, forums, and mobile apps are constantly scanned by automated bots. If your number is visible anywhere online, it can be collected without your knowledge and added to spam lists.
Your Number Was Sold by Data Brokers
Many services legally share user data with “partners.” That often includes phone numbers. Data brokers aggregate this information, build detailed profiles, and sell them to advertisers, or worse, to parties with very loose ethics. One opt-in can lead to years of unwanted calls.
Your Habits Increased Exposure
Using your real number for freebies, giveaways, discount codes, or questionable apps increases risk. Skipping the fine print in terms and conditions can also silently authorize data sharing.
📌 Quick tip: Check whether your phone number has appeared in known breaches using HaveIBeenPwned.com. If it shows up, the spam suddenly makes a lot more sense.
How to Stop Spam Calls (Step-by-Step)
Stopping spam calls requires layering defenses. When you combine phone-level controls, legal opt-outs, and smart filtering apps, the volume of spam calls usually drops sharply within days or weeks. Here’s how to build that defense step by step.
Block Spam Calls on Your Phone
Your smartphone already includes tools designed specifically to reduce unwanted calls, they just need to be enabled.
On iPhone, the Silence Unknown Callers feature automatically sends calls from numbers not saved in your contacts straight to voicemail. Your phone won’t ring, and scammers don’t get your attention, which is exactly what they want.
Path: Settings → Phone → Silence Unknown Callers
You can still see missed calls in your call log, so there’s no risk of missing something important permanently.
On Android, most phones offer built-in spam protection that actively flags or blocks suspicious numbers. Over time, the system improves by learning from reported calls.
Path: Settings → Caller ID & Spam → Enable filters
This alone won’t eliminate spam entirely, but it significantly reduces interruptions and breaks the feedback loop spammers rely on.
Register on Do Not Call Lists
Do Not Call registries help reduce legitimate telemarketing, not scams, but still a meaningful portion of spam.
In the U.S., registering with the National Do Not Call Registry legally requires compliant businesses to stop calling your number.
In the EU and other GDPR-regulated regions, telecom providers and regulators offer opt-out systems that limit marketing calls and enforce stricter consent rules. While scammers ignore these lists, real companies usually don’t, which lowers overall call volume.
Use Call-Blocking Apps
If spam calls are frequent or sophisticated, third-party apps add a powerful extra layer.
Apps like Hiya, RoboKiller, Truecaller, and Nomorobo rely on massive, constantly updated databases of known spam numbers.
They can:
- Block or flag spam calls before you answer
- Identify spoofed or suspicious numbers
- Use community reports to adapt in real time
- Screen calls with AI or route spam straight to voicemail
When combined with phone settings and registry opt-outs, these apps can turn spam calls from a daily frustration into an occasional nuisance, and sometimes eliminate them almost entirely.
Protect Your Phone Number Moving Forward
Once spam calls slow down, the next goal is keeping them from coming back. That means treating your phone number like a piece of personal data, because that’s exactly what it is. A few habit changes can dramatically reduce future exposure.
Keep Your Phone Number Private
Avoid posting your number publicly anywhere online. Forums, social media bios, business listings, comment sections, and online marketplaces are prime targets for scraping bots. Even if a platform claims limited visibility, assume anything public can be collected. If you must share a contact method publicly, use email or a contact form instead of a phone number.
Use Secondary or Temporary Numbers
For sign-ups, deliveries, classifieds, or apps you don’t fully trust, use a secondary or temporary number. Many services offer virtual numbers or app-based phone lines that forward calls without revealing your real number. This creates a buffer; if the number gets leaked, your primary line stays clean.
Avoid Risky Sign-Ups and Giveaways
Sweepstakes, free trials, “exclusive offers,” and giveaway forms are common data-harvesting tools. If a promotion requires a phone number and doesn’t clearly explain how it will be used, that’s a red flag. When in doubt, skip it or use a disposable number instead.
Never Interact with Robocalls
Engaging with spam calls, even pressing “1 to unsubscribe”, can backfire. Many robocall systems use this interaction to confirm your number is active, which can increase future spam. The safest response is no response: don’t answer, don’t press buttons, and don’t call back.
By limiting exposure and changing how you share your number, you cut off spam at the source, and make your phone a lot quieter over time.
Use a VPN to Avoid Phone Number Exposure
A VPN won’t magically stop every spam call on its own, but it plays an important preventive role. Many spam campaigns start online, long before the phone rings. By protecting your digital footprint, a VPN reduces how often your data (including your phone number) ends up in the wrong hands.
It Encrypts Your Internet Traffic
When you browse without protection, parts of your online activity can be observed by ISPs, public Wi-Fi operators, trackers, or compromised networks. A VPN encrypts your traffic end to end, making it far harder for third parties to link your browsing behavior, app usage, or sign-ups to your real identity, including your phone number.
Less exposed data means fewer opportunities for harvesting.
It Hides Your Real IP Address
Your IP address can be used to build a surprisingly accurate profile: location, network type, device behavior, and sometimes even links to VoIP or app-based calling services. A VPN masks your real IP, replacing it with one from the VPN server. This breaks IP-based tracking and makes triangulation far less effective.
For users who rely on VoIP numbers or messaging apps tied to their internet connection, this adds an extra layer of anonymity.
It Reduces Location-Based Scam Targeting
Many phone scams are location-specific, fake tax agencies, local banks, delivery services, or regional utilities. VPNs allow you to change your virtual location, which can reduce exposure to region-targeted scam campaigns that rely on IP-based geolocation to select victims.
It Blocks Trackers and Ads at the Source
Some VPNs go beyond encryption. For example, ZoogVPN or example, includes a built-in Ad blocker that filters ads, trackers, and malicious domains at the network level, not just in your browser. This means fewer pop-ups, fewer shady pages, and fewer tracking scripts collecting personal data like emails or phone numbers
By blocking trackers upstream, ZoogVPN reduces the chances of your data being profiled, resold, or used in targeted scam campaigns. It also speeds up browsing by stopping heavy ads from loading and helps protect against malware and phishing hidden in ad networks. Because the blocker works across apps and devices while connected, it quietly reduces digital exposure and, with it, the risk of your number ending up on spam call lists.
Bonus Tools to Stay Private
If you want long-term protection from spam calls, it helps to think beyond just your phone app. Spam thrives on data reuse, so the fewer real identifiers you expose online, the quieter your phone will stay. These bonus tools add extra privacy layers with minimal effort.
Use Email Aliasing Tools
Many spam calls start with an email address, not a phone number. Once your email is exposed, it’s often linked to other personal data later. Email aliasing tools let you generate disposable or masked email addresses that forward to your real inbox without revealing it. Popular options include SimpleLogin and DuckDuckGo Email Protection. If an alias starts receiving spam, you can disable it instantly, cutting off the source before it escalates to calls.
Consider Burner or Virtual Phone Numbers
For sign-ups, online marketplaces, deliveries, or short-term use, burner numbers are incredibly effective. Apps like Burner and Hushed provide secondary numbers that keep your real one private. If a burner number starts getting spammed, you simply discard it with no long-term damage and no cleanup required.
Lock Down Social Media Privacy Settings
Social platforms are prime scraping targets. Make sure your phone number and email are visible only to friends, or to no one at all. Disable search-by-phone-number options where possible, and review older posts or profile fields that may still expose contact information publicly. Even one overlooked setting can undo all other precautions.
Monitor and Remove Your Data from People-Search Sites
Data broker and people-search sites aggregate phone numbers, addresses, and personal details from public and semi-public sources. Periodically search for your name and number on these platforms. Most offer opt-out forms – tedious, but effective. Regularly removing your data reduces how often it’s resold, recycled, and used to fuel the next wave of spam calls.
Used together, these tools starve spam at the source, keeping your phone number out of circulation in the first place.
What to Do if You’re Already Targeted
If spam calls have already become frequent, the focus shifts from prevention to containment. The goal is to avoid confirming your number as valuable, reduce future attempts, and make reporting count so these operations lose effectiveness over time.
Don’t Answer Unknown Numbers
Answering a call, even briefly, can flag your number as active. Many spam and robocall systems automatically track engagement and prioritize numbers that pick up. If you don’t recognize the caller, let it ring out. Voicemail acts as a natural filter: legitimate callers usually leave a message, scammers rarely do.
If a suspicious number calls repeatedly without leaving voicemails, that’s a strong spam indicator.
Never Share Personal Information
Scammers rely on urgency and authority. They may claim to be your bank, a government agency, tech support, or a delivery service. No legitimate organization will ask for sensitive information during an unsolicited call.
Never share:
- Bank or card details
- Social Security or national ID numbers
- One-time passcodes or verification codes
- Account passwords or recovery phrases
If the call feels rushed or threatening, hang up. Real institutions allow you to verify through official channels.
Report Spam Calls to Authorities
Reporting helps regulators identify patterns and dismantle large spam operations. In the U.S., submit complaints to the Federal Trade Commission or the Federal Communications Commission. In the UK, spam calls can be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office and Ofcom.
These reports contribute to enforcement actions, fines, and carrier-level blocking.
Block and Flag Numbers Everywhere
Always block spam numbers on your phone, in your carrier’s tools, and within spam-blocking apps. Flagging calls improves shared databases used to protect other users and trains detection systems to recognize future scams faster.
Consistency matters: the more spam you block and report, the quieter your phone becomes over time, and the less profitable spam becomes for scammers.
Conclusion
Spam calls are an absolute annoyance, often being the first step toward phishing, fraud, and large-scale data abuse. The good news is that you’re not powerless. By using your phone’s built-in blocking features, installing reliable spam-filtering apps, and registering your number on do-not-call lists, you can dramatically reduce unwanted calls. For deeper, long-term protection, combine these steps with a privacy-focused tool like ZoogVPN, which helps keep your online activity encrypted and your personal data out of circulation. With the right tools and habits, spam calls stop being inevitable, and your peace of mind comes back.
Ready to stop spam calls for good? Your phone wasn’t meant to stress you out.
- Built-in spam filters to silence unknown callers
- Call-blocking apps that stop robocalls before they reach you
- A privacy-first VPN like ZoogVPN to reduce data leaks at the source
Start protecting your data today and enjoy a quieter, safer digital life without constant interruptions – download ZoogVPN.
- Diana BestaievaContent Writer at ZoogVPN. Diana deeply explores the newest technologies and shares valuable insights engagingly and comprehensively. Keeping up with the tech news, she makes in-depth content, explaining complex concepts with ease.
