Complaints about automated nuisance calls rose sharply over the summer, reaching 3,684 in September. The monthly total was the highest since 2021. The UK’s data protection regulator is investigating the increase.
The number of complaints recorded in July was 1,374. It increased to 2,178 in August, then rose by a further 69 per cent to September’s level. The figures measure reports made to the regulator; they are not a count of every automated call placed, nor do they establish how many people received calls.
What the figures show
The three monthly totals point to a rapid rise in reports over the period. They should be read as complaint data, rather than a direct measure of the scale of calling activity. Some recipients may not report an unwanted call, while one person’s complaint does not necessarily represent a unique caller or a confirmed offence. The totals alone cannot identify who placed the calls, where they originated or whether a particular call involved fraud.
The regulator has cautioned that reported complaints may represent only part of the problem. It says it is actively investigating the rise and wants members of the public to report suspicious automated calls. Investigations can help build a picture of patterns and possible responsibility, but the announcement does not identify a specific caller or announce a finding against an organisation.
Automated marketing calls use a recorded message played when a phone is answered. Such calls are distinct from live marketing calls, where a person speaks to the recipient, although both may be unwanted. The recent warning concerns automated and AI-enabled calls and reports that some can be used to draw people into messaging groups, solicit personal information or involve them in fraudulent schemes. Those are possible uses described by the regulator, not proof that every reported call has those purposes.
Reporting and responsibility
The data protection regulator is responsible for rules governing direct marketing calls and can investigate organisations suspected of breaching them. Reports can provide intelligence about trends and help investigators decide where to focus. A complaint is not, by itself, a determination that a law has been broken, and the increase does not amount to a confirmed national count of scam calls.
People who receive a suspicious automated call can submit a report through the data protection regulator’s online service. The regulator also advises people who do not recognise a number, or see a withheld number, that they do not have to answer. Registering a landline or mobile number with the national telephone-preference service is free and records that the subscriber does not want marketing calls. Registration is not a substitute for reporting calls that continue.
Different types of unwanted calls may fall to different bodies. The data protection regulator handles nuisance marketing calls, while silent or abandoned calls fall to the communications regulator. Fraud and scam reports have a separate reporting route, and concerns about a business’s practices can be raised with trading standards through consumer-advice services. This distinction matters because a nuisance call, a breach of marketing rules and a proven fraud are not interchangeable descriptions.
An investigation, not a final finding
The September figure gives the regulator a marked rise to examine, but the announcement does not yet explain the cause, establish the number of calls made or say whether the increase reflects more activity, a change in reporting, or both. Nor does it name a company as responsible for the trend. Those questions remain open while the investigation continues.
The data protection regulator says complaints help it identify patterns and take enforcement action where appropriate. It also reports that, since April 2025, it has issued 15 monetary penalty notices concerning nuisance calls and spam texts, totalling £2.37 million. Those penalties relate to earlier enforcement and should not be read as sanctions connected to the current increase. For now, the regulator’s request is for people to report suspicious automated calls so that investigators can build a clearer evidence base.
