Spam calls up by nearly 50% in Canada, according to report

Calgary — New measures expected to cut down on spam and fraudulent phone calls for Canadians are coming and one group says they couldn't come at a better time.

Hiya, a company that provides nuisance and scam call protection, released an annual report where it found Canadians received 2.1 billion spam calls between January and November 2019, 49 per cent more than last year.

The firm said Canadians got, on average, six unwanted calls per month. Most of those calls are from scammers, trying to trick victims into handing over their money, Hiya said.

The most popular phone scams, according to the report, include:

Hiya said you should never answer or return calls you suspect could be from scammers.

"Specific to the immigration scam, under no condition would anyone from the Government of Canada ask for payment through prepaid credit cards, iTunes gift cards or money transfer services," it said in a release.

It also found most of the spam calls originated from Toronto's 416 and 647 area codes and southwestern Ontario’s 519 area code.

Edmonton's 780 area code was fifth on the list, followed by Calgary and southern Alberta's 403 area code.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said it will bring call-blocking systems online on Dec. 19.

Calls from numbers that exceed 15 digits, or numbers that can’t be dialed (“spoofed” numbers such as 000-000-0000), should no longer reach Canadian phones if the system is effective.

(With files from CTVNews.ca)