A similar trend I've noticed in the US within recent years has been that misdialing toll-free numbers(or even correctly dialing an apparently expired number), o

A similar trend I've noticed in the US within recent years has been that misdialing toll-free numbers(or even correctly dialing an apparently expired number), originally "area code" 800, since expanded to include 888, 877, 866, 855, and 844, will lead to a scam or advertising connection. This is one of numerous trustworthiness attacks on general public-switched telephone network (PSTN) use which I suspect will lead to an increased abandonment of that system. If we can neither trust either incoming or outgoing calls to connect to a trustworthy counterparty, people will tend to prefer systems which do so. (This is on top of privacy and security issues with PSTN, including data exfiltration by operators, and potential for wiretapping and intercepting voice, texts, and data.)