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That's wild. I'm in the US, and I get maybe 1-2 spam calls a month. I get more spam texts than calls, though not many of those either. I've never done anything

That's wild. I'm in the US, and I get maybe 1-2 spam calls a month. I get more spam texts than calls, though not many of those either. I've never done anything special to try to prevent them, so I wonder what the difference is.

afavour 1y ago
My theory is age. I get very few calls. Neither does my wife. My mother in law is called multiple times a day. I assume there’s some basic demographic data available out there and they’re targeting retirees because they know (statistically speaking) they’re an easy hit.
- rconti 1y ago
  My 86 year old father regularly gets calls from his "grandson" (who does not exist)... who is in jail, and needs help.
- collinfunk 1y ago
  FWIW, I am in my 20s and receive many phone calls. But maybe your theory is correct and I am an outlier.
- pentamassiv 1y ago
  I think an important factor is also how long you had the same number. I switch numbers every couple of years because I get a new contract and moving the number to the new company is such a hassle. Over time you share your number with more and more companies and people who sell it or get breached. My parents had their number for ~30 years. I never get spam calls or texts. They get one once a week or so (this is in Germany, we get a lot fewer of these calls).
  - scarface_74 1y ago
    I’ve had the same cell phone number for 25 years across 5 carriers and get maybe 1 spam call a week.
socalgal2 1y ago
I get about 6 a day, just as another data point. As the other poster said I've set my phone so that only people in my contacts make it ring. Unfortunately that still means I have to manually go delete the voice mail notifications, all of which are 6-10 second of silence (6 out of 7 times) or some Chinese (I'm not Chinese and don't speak Chinese). Stupidly, AFAICT, none of the phone services bother to auto-delete silent voice messages so I have to manually delete them, each one taking ~6 seconds ("call from One Two Three Five Five Five Six Seven Eight Night at three twenty seven pee em, on friday june twenty sixth ..........." delete. Repeat
recursivecaveat 1y ago
If you pick up it's a positive signal that routes more to you. For a week or two I was like "eh, takes 5s, maybe it's a call from my doctor or something" and would pick up. Big mistake, got like 10 a day for a while after that.
thephyber 1y ago
I think (1) he was self-employed, so his business contact info (also his personal info) became public record (2) he NEVER opted out of anything (eg “type STOP to opt-out”), never told callers to take him off their marketing list, and he was VERY sloppy with handing out his primary contact info on websites (maybe shopping or sweepstakes).

afavour 1y ago

My theory is age. I get very few calls. Neither does my wife. My mother in law is called multiple times a day. I assume there’s some basic demographic data available out there and they’re targeting retirees because they know (statistically speaking) they’re an easy hit.

rconti 1y ago
My 86 year old father regularly gets calls from his "grandson" (who does not exist)... who is in jail, and needs help.
collinfunk 1y ago
FWIW, I am in my 20s and receive many phone calls. But maybe your theory is correct and I am an outlier.
pentamassiv 1y ago
I think an important factor is also how long you had the same number. I switch numbers every couple of years because I get a new contract and moving the number to the new company is such a hassle. Over time you share your number with more and more companies and people who sell it or get breached. My parents had their number for ~30 years. I never get spam calls or texts. They get one once a week or so (this is in Germany, we get a lot fewer of these calls).
- scarface_74 1y ago
  I’ve had the same cell phone number for 25 years across 5 carriers and get maybe 1 spam call a week.

socalgal2 1y ago

I get about 6 a day, just as another data point. As the other poster said I've set my phone so that only people in my contacts make it ring. Unfortunately that still means I have to manually go delete the voice mail notifications, all of which are 6-10 second of silence (6 out of 7 times) or some Chinese (I'm not Chinese and don't speak Chinese). Stupidly, AFAICT, none of the phone services bother to auto-delete silent voice messages so I have to manually delete them, each one taking ~6 seconds ("call from One Two Three Five Five Five Six Seven Eight Night at three twenty seven pee em, on friday june twenty sixth ..........." delete. Repeat

recursivecaveat 1y ago

If you pick up it's a positive signal that routes more to you. For a week or two I was like "eh, takes 5s, maybe it's a call from my doctor or something" and would pick up. Big mistake, got like 10 a day for a while after that.

thephyber 1y ago

I think (1) he was self-employed, so his business contact info (also his personal info) became public record (2) he NEVER opted out of anything (eg “type STOP to opt-out”), never told callers to take him off their marketing list, and he was VERY sloppy with handing out his primary contact info on websites (maybe shopping or sweepstakes).