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Door staff@engadget.com (Jack Peachey) - 08 Nov 2026
A good portion of spam calls and texts come from sheer bad luck. Sometimes you need to use your number for an important account, only for that site or service to be hit by a data breach. Either that, or an illegal robocaller has randomly dialed your number or stolen it from a public record, like a court directory, property deeds or corporate filings.
Even if you're registered with the FTC's Do Not Call Registry, which restricts most telemarketing calls, you can still be spammed by charities, political parties, debt collectors, telephone surveyors and other exempt callers.
The bulk of numbers available to spammers and scammers, however, have been bought from data brokers. In many cases, this data is legally resold to third parties after you sign up for accounts, loyalty programs, contests, sweepstakes and more. You probably agreed to these sales, either as a mandatory condition of using a service or while rushing through web pages with deliberately confusing checkboxes.
You may also have fallen victim to a phishing scam, handing over your information by filling out a fake login page, making an account on a sketchy website, applying to a fake job listing or signing up for a bogus app or service. If you've signed up for anything with your phone number, there's a strong likelihood your information has been sold.
Even if you're registered with the FTC's Do Not Call Registry, which restricts most telemarketing calls, you can still be spammed by charities, political parties, debt collectors, telephone surveyors and other exempt callers.
The bulk of numbers available to spammers and scammers, however, have been bought from data brokers. In many cases, this data is legally resold to third parties after you sign up for accounts, loyalty programs, contests, sweepstakes and more. You probably agreed to these sales, either as a mandatory condition of using a service or while rushing through web pages with deliberately confusing checkboxes.
You may also have fallen victim to a phishing scam, handing over your information by filling out a fake login page, making an account on a sketchy website, applying to a fake job listing or signing up for a bogus app or service. If you've signed up for anything with your phone number, there's a strong likelihood your information has been sold.