Your mobile vibrates, you look at the screen and a strange number appears. Your instinct tells you not to answer, but curiosity gets the better of you. Big mistake. On the other end, a robotic voice informs you that you have won a trip to Cancun or, worse still, someone with a dubious accent wants to check your electricity bill. Welcome to the wonderful world of spam calls.
Spain has become one of the European countries with the highest volume of unwanted commercial calls. And no, it’s not that we have a special appeal for telemarketers: it’s that the filters are conspicuously absent and phone databases circulate like football stickers.
Numbers you should keep on your blacklist
If you have ever searched Google for a strange number that called you, you know what I’m talking about. The good news is that you are not alone. Thousands of users report suspicious numbers daily, and thanks to that we can identify patterns and companies behind these nuisances.
Here is an updated list of numbers identified as spam or aggressive commercial calls by the Spanish user community:
Numbers with prefix 93 (Barcelona and Catalonia)
The prefix 93 corresponds to Barcelona and its metropolitan area, but that doesn’t mean the caller is actually there. Many telemarketing companies mask their real location using virtual switchboards.
- 935958639: reported for calls about insurance and energy
- 930473884: persistent offers for phone services
- 93046: short number associated with mass campaigns
Numbers with prefix 91 (Madrid)
Madrid, as expected, leads the ranking of annoying calls. The prefix 91 appears in most reports from fed-up users.
| Number | Reported call type |
|---|---|
| 912762511 | Offers for electricity and gas |
| 911501504 | Supposed surveys |
| 911773072 | Mobile phone |
| 919440071 | Health insurance |
| 917935927 | Suspicious investments |
| 915036490 | Financial services |
| 919611653 | Change of electricity company |
| 910884651 | Silent calls (no response) |
| 910883235 | Commercial solicitation |
| 910132499 | Bank offers |
| 917015598 | Car insurance |
| 911219651 | Landline |
| 910783118 | Doubtful promotions |
| 914566634 | Premium services |
| 911892245 | Fake surveys |
| 911177285 | Solar energy |
| 919462883 | Home alarms |
| 91108 | Commercial short number |
| 919611559 | Change of tariff |
| 912222123 | Aggressive solicitation |
| 910613322 | Fake technical services |
| 917043060 | Internet offers |
| 910500966 | Automated calls |
| 919611630 | Extreme persistence |
| 917676371 | Financial products |
| 911083825 | Supposed prizes |
Numbers with prefix 6 (Spanish mobiles)
Just because a mobile number calls you doesn’t mean it’s your distant cousin. Telemarketing companies also use mobile lines to seem closer and increase the response rate. Clever, right?
- 621189722: persistent offers for fibre
- 621146534: calls about quick loans
- 621211482: services of dubious origin
- 615804297: loyalty campaigns
- 621126960: energy and maintenance
- 621196699: various insurances
- 672903927: commercial solicitation
- 683673714: unidentified calls
- 621629695: aggressive telemarketing
- 693117451: investments
- 623565507: banking products
- 642642642: easy to remember number, hard to ignore
- 662988433: premium services
- 662912864: unsolicited offers
- 658099420: persistent calls
- 621123960: operator change
- 604225203: various promotions
- 662999660: mass campaigns
- 621123950: telephony and extras
- 656000656: another "nice" number with bad intentions
Short and special numbers
Short numbers are particularly dangerous because they are often associated with premium rate services. If you return the call, you could face unpleasant surprises on your bill.
- 63836
- 66299
- 29999009
- 29999012
- 25285834
Other prefixes and international numbers
Some numbers don’t even try to disguise themselves. When you see a strange prefix or too many digits, the alarm should go off automatically.
- 822720201: Canary Islands prefix, used for national campaigns
- 963112114: Valencia, energy offers
- 946668454: Basque Country, various services
- 8094714045: possible international origin
- 18662030076: North American format
- 5550159900: Mexican prefix
- 5545203104: another Mexican line
- 960660748: Valencia, commercial calls
How to protect yourself from phone spam
Ignoring calls is an option, but not always the most practical. Sometimes you need to answer because you are expecting an important call. Here are some tips that really work:
Register your number with the Robinson List. It’s free and, although it doesn’t eliminate all calls, it significantly reduces those from companies that operate legally. The others, well, they will keep trying.
Use call identification apps. Truecaller, Hiya, or the native function of some Android phones can alert you before you pick up. They aren’t perfect, but they help.
Never return calls to unknown numbers. Especially if they are short or have strange prefixes. You could be paying premium rates without knowing it.
Systematically block. Every number that bothers you, straight to the blacklist. It’s tedious, but in the long run, your phone will be quieter.
What to do if you have already answered
If you have had the misfortune of answering and even giving personal information, don’t beat yourself up. Act quickly: check your bank accounts, change passwords if you have provided sensitive information, and report the number on collaborative platforms so that other users are warned.
You can also report to the Spanish Agency for Data Protection if you believe your privacy has been violated. Don’t expect immediate results, but each report adds up so that eventually measures are taken.
Why they keep calling if no one answers
The answer is simple: because it works. Out of every thousand calls, perhaps only five people bite the bait. But those five are enough for the business model to be profitable. The cost per call is ridiculous thanks to automatic switchboards and predictive dialers.
Moreover, many of these operations are carried out from countries where Spanish legislation has no jurisdiction. They can call you from anywhere in the world using a number with prefix 91 and you would never know.
VoIP technology has democratized aggressive telemarketing. You no longer need a physical call centre with hundreds of employees. With an internet connection and the right software, one person can make thousands of calls daily. Scary, isn’t it?
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