[raarts]

Since you have expertise, maybe you can explain why this seems to happen in the US only, while SS7 (which many commenters mention as the culprit) is used all over the world.

I live in Europe, but do not receive robocalls at all (zero), while when I enter the US, and put in my US SIM, I immediately start getting multiple per day.

[netsharc]

Maybe there's no market in Europe. Only the UK speaks English, and in the UK it seems not many have to do tax returns (from http://taxaid.org.uk/guides/taxpayers/tax-returns/im-not-sur...):

> Most taxpayers in the UK are taxed at source and so do not need to complete a Self Assessment Tax Return. ‘Taxed at source’ means that the money you receive has already had tax taken off, such as the wages you get from your employer when paid under the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system, or UK bank interest taxed at source.

[martinald]

They definitely do happen in the UK.

Later versions of Android really help with the 'spam call' filtering, though I've noticed that callers tend to just recycle through nonsense caller IDs and/or unknown numbers (which is really annoying if you have clients phoning you from unknown numbers).

At one point I was getting 10+ a day, which seems to have calmed down now. Everything from tax scams, to PPI, to car accidents.

[daveFNbuck]

How do you filter spam calls in Android? I keep getting calls where my screen turns red and it warns that the call is spam. I'd love to stop having my phone ring and stop getting all the voicemails.

[martinald]

Phone app -> top right three vertical dots -> settings -> filter spam calls

[daveFNbuck]

Thanks! That has really been bugging me for a long time.

[raarts]

Just to make it clear: Not only do I get IRS robocalls in the US but all kind of scams.

Also: 96% of the Dutch speak English, and the Scandinavian countries aren't far behind.

[viraptor]

There's a difference between speaking English and expecting a local call to be in English. Sure they could have the conversion, but trying to do a tax scam on a Dutch person in English has ~0% chance of succeeding.

[raarts]

Tax ok, but I think many would fall for a crypto, or investment scam.

[skykooler]

As I understand it, in Europe to register for a phone number you have to give some identifying info to the telecom so they know who the number is registered with. In the US, however, you can get phone numbers anonymously.

[raarts]

I'm from the telecom industry myself, and it's real easy to spoof callerid here as well. Also anonymous burner phones do exist here as well.

So I don't think this is the reason.

[nojvek]

I’m sure you’ll find more “get rich quickly even if it’s dirty” kinda people here. We literally worship our millionaires and billionaires.

I’m probably going to get downvotes but this is what I’ve experienced in the US, at-least in the hyper growth Silicon Valley.

[supertrope]

Get rich quick and clawing over others to get to the top is also relatively prevalent in poorer countries, those with great wealth/income inequality, and societies undergoing rapid economic transformation.

It's part legal enforcement and part culture. There are dishonest individuals in every country.

[alberts00]

There are countries in EU where that is not the case. I do not think this is an EU policy.

[tpxl]

Afaik they are mostly illegal, at least where I live.

[dragonwriter]

They are illegal in the US and often originate abroad, anyway, so legality under the law of the target country (or the source country, as most are illegal where they originate, too) doesn't seem to be a controlling factor.

[supertrope]

Fraud and wire fraud are illegal in most countries. The limiting factor is effectiveness of enforcement and probability of being caught.

[thunfischbrot]

You mean that they do not happen in the EU as they are illegal there? They are illegal in the US as well.

[soundwave106]

Although no law will prevents all scams, some European governments do have much stricter laws on when you can "cold call" period. In Germany, for instance, thanks to legislation passed a decade ago, I believe the customer needs to grant explicit permission in order for a business to be able to cold call, and no telemarketer can impersonate your phone number -- https://www.thelocal.de/20090804/21021.

It would be interesting to see if there is a correlation with these sorts of laws, and the prevalence of phone scams.

[tremon]

The EU regulators still have teeth.