---
title: Which European country has the worst phone spam problem?
description: Hiya compares spam rates in 22 European countries. See which country received the most fraud and nuisance calls in the first three quarters of 2026.
---

[The Hiya Voice: News and views for better voice performance](https://blog.hiya.com)

# [Which European country has the worst phone spam problem?](https://blog.hiya.com/which-european-country-has-the-worst-phone-spam-problem)

 Written by [Camilla Dickson](https://blog.hiya.com/author/camilla-dickson) | Nov 4, 2026, 5:38:42 PM

Now that we’re more than three quarters through 2026, it’s a good time to look into Hiya’s data to see how unwanted calls are affecting people in different countries. This blog post will focus on the countries in Europe.

So, which country in Europe has the worst spam problem? Here are 3 ways of looking at the problem.

### **1. France receives the highest volume of unwanted calls**

One of the primary ways to gauge the phone spam problem in various countries is to look at the average number of unwanted calls received per person each month. Hiya defines an unwanted call as one that is either a nuisance or fraud. These are calls from unknown phone numbers, from people who are not in an individual’s contact list.

From the chart above, you can see that residents of France received the most unwanted calls in the first three quarters of 2026 — an average of 17 calls per person per month! So, you might say that France has the worst spam problem in Europe.

There are two other European countries with double-digit spam volumes: Italy and Spain. In Italy, residents receive 14 unwanted calls per month, and Spaniards receive 12 unwanted calls each month.

Countries with the fewest unwanted calls include Ireland, Luxembourg, Austria, and the Netherlands.

 

### **2. Italy and France receive the highest percentage of calls that are unwanted**

Not all calls from unknown, unrecognized phone numbers are unwanted calls. They may be calls from a line at your doctor’s office or your child’s school. Likewise, potential new customers may call from unknown numbers. You may even get calls from new acquaintances you haven’t yet added to your phone’s contact list.

Another way of measuring a country’s spam problem is to look at the *percentage* of unknown calls received that are unwanted: either annoying nuisance calls or illegal fraud calls. There are two countries where more than half of incoming calls from unrecognized numbers are unwanted. Those countries are France and Italy

*Shown above are the percentage of calls coming from unrecognized numbers that Hiya has identified as likely nuisance or fraud calls.*

### **3. Spain receives the highest percentage of fraud calls**

Many unwanted calls are simply annoying and a waste of time. Others are fraud: intent on stealing money or personal information. When a country has a high percentage of fraud calls, it means that citizens are more likely to be targeted by scams, and possibly more likely to fall victim to them.

As you can see below, Spain has the highest fraud rate in all of Europe. 13% of calls from unrecognized numbers are suspected scams.

As we saw in our first chart, residents of Spain also receive high volumes of unwanted calls — the third highest in Europe. So, one could argue that Spain has the worst spam problem in Europe because residents receive high volumes of unwanted calls *and* a high percentage of those calls are fraud.

In comparison, most unwanted calls in France are nuisance rather than fraud, which lessens exposure to scams

*Shown above are the percentage of calls coming from unknown numbers that Hiya has identified as “Potential Fraud.” \* Note that network operators in Germany and Italy do not distinguish between fraud and nuisance calls and simply label unwanted calls as suspected spam.*

 

### **How to protect against fraud and nuisance calls**

Spammers and scammers are constantly changing their tactics, so the only way to fight back is with an AI-powered solution that adapts to ever-changing tactics.

For mobile network operators, there’s [Hiya Protect](https://www.hiya.com/products/protect), which protects subscribers by blocking fraud calls and labeling spam calls. It goes beyond simply identifying spam-likely phone numbers. It uses an AI-powered multi-layer approach that analyzes the incoming phone number, call characteristics, the call recipient, and even the calling enterprise’s history across all numbers used.

To reduce unwanted calls on your personal device, individuals can download the free [Hiya Spam Blocker app](https://www.hiya.com/products/apps/hiya-spam-blocker).

 

### **Methodology**

Hiya is in a unique position to measure phone spam around the world. Through its relationship with mobile device manufacturers and global downloads of the Hiya mobile app, Hiya has insight into spam calls in more than 40 countries. Data is based on calls observed on the Hiya Voice Security Network, which includes Samsung Smart Call enabled devices and Hiya mobile apps.

Unwanted calls include both fraud calls and nuisance calls that Hiya has identified and flagged as either “potential fraud” or “suspected spam.” Call volumes measure the number of unwanted calls from non-contacts, which are calls placed from numbers that are not in an individual’s address book.

[View full post](https://blog.hiya.com/which-european-country-has-the-worst-phone-spam-problem)

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