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Phone Spam Escalated in 2025 With Number Cycling, AI Voices and Relentless Call Bursts

Early 2026 responses focus on reporting options alongside OS-level call screening.

Overview

  • User reports describe persistent high-frequency harassment, with individual lines receiving roughly 3,800 to over 4,000 spam calls in a year.
  • Fraud groups rotate the last digits across entire number blocks to defeat simple blocking, with prominent clusters linked to Düsseldorf and Hamburg.
  • Since August 2025, victims have increasingly reported real-time AI voice cloning in calls, identified by unusually polished, adaptable speech.
  • Hybrid scams now pair initial calls with follow-up messenger messages, images or links that escalate to payment requests or data grabs.
  • Germany’s regulator enables reporting and suspension of manipulated numbers, and iOS 26 is reported to add a call assistant to filter suspected spam, with experts forecasting deeper network-level filtering in 2026.