State Watch

Sick of spam calls? See which states file the most complaints

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by Jeremy Tanner - 05/17/26 9:00 AM ET

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by Jeremy Tanner - 05/17/26 9:00 AM ET

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(NEXSTAR) – It’s become an obnoxious reality with no apparent end in sight – spam calls that interrupt our day with calls ranging from unwanted to services to dangerous scams.

In 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received more than 2.6 million complaints about calls in the following categories: reducing debt (446,243); imposters (246,228); medical & prescriptions (208,228); energy solar & utilities (35,378); and home improvement & cleaning (28,571).

Some states saw a far higher number of complaints (per 100,000 people) than others, but none had more per capita than Arizona.

Rounding out the Top 10 were Florida, Tennessee, Illinois, Nevada, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey and Oklahoma, respectively.

What are the most common calls?

Other common complaints included calls about debt reduction (1,092,275); medical and prescription (830,850); warranties and protection plans (730,621); energy, solar and utilities (236,629); computer and tech equipment (126,221); home improvement and cleaning (104,757); and vacations and timeshares (96,429).

“Home improvement and cleaning” calls were mostly made by live callers, according to the FTC, with the majority of all other categories consisting of robocalls.

As the name implies, robocalls are automated calls to deliver recorded messages to a large number of phones. A robocall purely to deliver a message or collect a debt is allowed under U.S. regulations, but the Federal Trade Commission says robocalls with a recorded voice trying to sell you something are illegal unless you’ve given explicit written permission to receive them. Many robocalls are also probably scams, the FTC warns.

How to fight back against spam calls

While they may seem unstoppable at times, there are measures everyone can take to, at the very least, cut down on the number of calls.

Start with your phone, experts say – there may be built in settings that can be turned on.

Apple advises iPhone users to turn on the Silence Unknown Callers feature. Go to your “Settings,” then scroll down to “Apps,” and then to “Phone,” where you’ll see it under the “Calls” section. When you turn this on, any calls from numbers that you’ve never been in touch with and aren’t saved in your contacts list will not ring through. Instead, they’ll be sent to voicemail and show up in your list of recent calls.

Android has a similar setting that allows you to block calls from private or unidentified numbers, although you will still receive calls from numbers that aren’t stored in your contact list.

You can also leave your Android phone on Do Not Disturb but configure it so that anyone on your Contacts list is allowed to interrupt.

Your phone carrier may also offer a call-blocking service that may even be free. For added measure, you can sign up for the national Do Not Call registry.

Finally, there are a host of smartphone apps available that promise to block spam calls, like Nomorobo, YouMail, Hiya, RoboKiller, TrueCaller and others. Many charge a monthly or annual subscription fee but some offer a free basic option. Some also can be installed on landline phones, but only if they use VOIP technology, not copper cables.

Hang up

You might be tempted to try to engage with the call in an attempt to get your number off the call list or be put through to a real person. The FTC warns against doing this and recommends that you just hang up.

“Pressing numbers to speak to someone or remove you from the list will probably only lead to more robocalls,” the agency says on its advice page. “And the number on your caller ID probably isn’t real. Caller ID is easy to fake” and can’t be trusted, it says.

Cybersecurity company Kaspersky advises not even saying anything when you receive what you think is a robocall. We’ve all received scammy calls that start with something like “Hello, can you hear me?” to which you’ve probably replied “yes” without thinking.

Scammers “can then store the recording of your confirmation and use it for fraudulent activities,” Kaspersky says. “So, avoid saying yes where possible.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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