Tunisia Leads Spam Calls for 2nd Year in Africa
Iran Ranks 2nd... Russia and Sri Lanka Follow at 3rd and 4th
Tunisia, with the country code 216, in North Africa, has been identified as the country sending the most international spam calls to South Korea for two consecutive years.
On the 29th, SK Telink's international calling service '00700' analyzed the international spam phone numbers blocked throughout last year and released the top 10 countries with the highest number of international spam calls in 2023. Tunisia (country code 216) topped the list, accounting for 12% of all spam calls. Following Tunisia, Iran (country code 98) accounted for 9% of total international spam calls, ranking second, while Russia (country code 7, 7%) and Sri Lanka (country code 94, 7%) ranked third and fourth respectively.
International spam refers to illegal activities that induce abnormal international communications or connections from overseas to South Korea. Typically, these originate from countries with poor international communication infrastructure or severe social unrest, where regulatory and enforcement authorities are lax. Tunisia has ranked first in international spam calls for two consecutive years since 2022. This country, the epicenter of the 2010 'Arab Spring,' continues to experience domestic political turmoil and severe economic difficulties following the revolution.
Iran, experiencing political instability due to anti-government protests and the Israel-Hamas conflict, jumped from 10th place in 2022 to 2nd place. Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine has entered a prolonged phase, newly entered the top 10 rankings.
SK Telink, which has been tracking the rankings of international spam origin countries for five years, stated that the 'top 10' list changes almost entirely every year. Only Tunisia and Iran have been included in the top 10 for two consecutive years. The company explained that this is the result of SK Telink designating the top-ranking countries as special management countries in line with the government's illegal spam policy, strengthening international spam monitoring and management, and actively blocking illegal activities in cooperation with international relay operators.
Last year, SK Telink blocked 7.17 million international spam calls and significantly reduced callback inducements such as 'one-ring' calls (where the phone rings once or twice and then disconnects, leaving the caller's number) from 220,000 cases in 2019 to 18,500 cases in 2023.
SK Telink advised, "As the Lunar New Year holiday approaches, when international call usage surges, please be cautious to avoid spam damage." They recommended that missed calls with unfamiliar country codes such as 216, 98, 7, 94, 94, and 237 are likely 'one-ring spam,' so it is best to check the country code through a search before returning the call. They also encouraged the use of spam blocking features and apps. If a call is mistakenly returned, users should immediately press the call end button and confirm that the call has been properly disconnected. Additionally, users should avoid clicking on internet addresses (URLs) in international text messages from unknown sources.
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