Truecaller flags Nigeria as Africa’s spam call capital

Nigeria has been ranked the most spammed country in Africa, according to a new report by Truecaller has shown.

The report showed that more than half of all unknown calls received by Nigerians in 2025 were identified as spam or fraudulent.

About 51 per cent of unknown calls were flagged as spam, placing Nigeria eighth in the world and ahead of African countries like South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Ethiopia.

According to the report, most spam calls in Nigeria are linked to telecom companies and network-related promotions. Telecom-related calls made up 35 per cent of spam calls, while sales and telemarketing accounted for 10 per cent. Scam calls represented six per cent.

Truecaller said many Nigerians now struggle to know whether an unknown caller is a real network provider, a marketer, or a fraudster pretending to be from a trusted company.

The report also noted that Brazil faces a similar problem, with telecom-related calls dominating spam activities.

Globally, Indonesia ranked as the most spammed country in the world, with 79 per cent of unknown calls marked as spam. Chile came second with 70 per cent, while Vietnam, Brazil and India completed the top five.

The company added that the Middle East and Africa region passed 100 million monthly active users in late 2025, making Africa one of its fastest-growing markets.

Chief Executive Officer of Truecaller, Rishit Jhunjhunwala, said fraud and impersonation calls have become a serious global concern.

He said the company plans to focus more on stopping fraudulent calls before they reach users in 2026.

Truecaller also announced that it surpassed 500 million monthly active users worldwide as of March 31, 2026, with more than 150 million users outside India.