The sudden increase in spam calls is likely due to a few key reasons:
- Your phone number may have been exposed in a recent data breach or sold by data brokers who collect and sell personal information including phone numbers to telemarketers and scammers.
- Your number could have been found on public sites like social media or people search websites, making it easy for spammers to target you.
- You may have previously answered or interacted with spam calls or messages, signaling to scammers that your number is active.
- You might be caught on an automated robocall list used to call large numbers of people at once.
Spam calls are usually unsolicited and can be attempts to sell products, collect personal info, or conduct scams. To reduce the spam calls, options include blocking individual numbers, registering your number on the National Do Not Call Registry, using carrier spam-blocking services or third-party apps, and minimizing public exposure of your phone number online. The surge in calls reflects the increased activity of scammers buying leaked data and leveraging robocall systems to target many users at once.
