A rather basic new study, which was conducted by tech refurbishment firm Back Market, has analysed the number of nuisance call reports coming from 752 area codes across the UK – as reported on who-called.co.uk – to see which ones receive the highest percentage of reports nationally. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given its size, London was found to be the area most exploited by cold callers.
The researchers also analysed the most recent comments left while making these reports to determine what people had to say about the most common scams nationally. Overall, London took the top spot for the area where the most nuisance calls originate from in the UK. A total of 3.58 million reports of nuisance phone numbers have been made against 020 area code numbers on who-called.co.uk, making up 20.14% of the UK’s 17.77 million reports.
Naturally, Manchester was the second-hardest hit by nuisance callers, with 3.44% of all reports filed nationally against 0161 area code numbers. In total, Manchester numbers have had 611,150 nuisance caller reports. But this is where things take an unexpected turn, with the relatively small market town of Blandford Forum in Dorset somehow managing to come third in the table (2.86%).
The 01258 area code for Blandford Forum received 508,653 nuisance call reports in total, which is very unusual for a location with a population of just 11,796. But it also received significantly fewer look-ups (1,218,237) by visitors of the related website, which suggests to us that the data should perhaps be taken with a pinch of salt (they also fail to specify what time period the data covers)
The study also found that scammers routinely impersonate trusted institutions like banks, Amazon, and broadband ISPs such as BT. Banks were the most frequent institution scammers impersonated, with 587 out of 1,168 reports (50%) they looked at mentioning matters relating to bank accounts.
Top UK Area Codes Used by Nuisance Callers (% of National Reports)
Rank
Area
Number of lookups
Number of reports
% of all reports nationally
Area Code
1.
London
183,210,617
3,580,172
20.14%
020
2.
Manchester
66,412,481
611,150
3.44%
0161
3.
Blandford Forum, Dorset
1,218,237
508,653
2.86%
01258
4.
Liverpool
17,387,057
439,605
2.47%
0151
5.
Leicester
9,161,592
435,501
2.45%
0116
6.
Leeds
17,447,710
373,659
2.1%
0113
7.
Birmingham
23,944,561
351,554
1.98%
0121
8.
Sheffield
10,502,984
318,806
1.79%
0114
9.
Glasgow
20,548,882
254,500
1.43%
0141
10.
Bristol
8,143,248
220,745
1.24%
0117
11.
Edinburgh
10,642,047
163,620
0.92%
0131
12.
Cambridge
2,970,310
147,966
0.83%
01223
13.
Nottingham
7,569,825
113,324
0.64%
0115
14.
Cardiff
7,053,157
103,702
0.58%
029
15.
Derby
3,001,531
92,505
0.52%
01332
16.
Bolton
4,301,011
88,437
0.5%
01204
17.
Canterbury
1,608,814
84,502
0.48%
01227
18.
Chesterfield, Derbyshire
2,538,671
84,267
0.47%
01246
19.
Coventry
4,083,190
83,583
0.47%
024
20.
Reading
4,669,455
78,319
0.44%
0118
21.
Bedford
1,967,428
77,387
0.44%
01234
22.
Chester
2,281,775
77,368
0.44%
01244
23.
Bradford
2,670,263
77,200
0.43%
01274
24.
Bournemouth
4,756,179
71,482
0.4%
01202
25.
Luton
1,940,656
69,062
0.39%
01582
26.
Portsmouth
3,147,378
65,543
0.37%
0239
27.
Southampton
3,363,666
65,381
0.37%
0238
28.
Barnsley
1,261,532
64,352
0.36%
01226
29.
Abingdon-on-Thames (Abingdon), Oxfordshire
1,329,425
63,586
0.36%
01235
30.
Brighton
5,071,656
63,571
0.36%
01273
31.
Chelmsford, Essex
1,634,247
62,604
0.35%
01245
32.
Peterborough
1,994,176
56,981
0.32%
01733
33.
Chichester, West Sussex
1,024,375
54,525
0.31%
01243
34.
Dursley, Gloucestershire
1,216,036
54,245
0.31%
01453
35.
Aberdeen
2,958,114
54,121
0.3%
01224
36.
Aldershot, Hampshire
1,762,630
51,986
0.29%
01252
37.
Stoke-on-Trent
2,646,218
51,743
0.29%
01782
38.
Norwich
3,132,089
51,252
0.29%
01603
39.
Bewdley, Worcestershire
1,153,514
50,983
0.29%
01299
40.
Ashford, Kent
1,555,070
50,807
0.29%
01233
41.
Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire
861,089
49,899
0.28%
01283
42.
Cromer, Norfolk
465,207
49,550
0.28%
01263
43.
Wolverhampton
1,814,840
48,971
0.28%
01902
44.
Basildon, Essex
1,467,884
48,594
0.27%
01268
45.
Cirencester, Gloucestershire
751,854
48,380
0.27%
01285
46.
Guisborough, North Yorkshire
980,329
48,132
0.27%
01287
47.
Blackburn
2,824,518
47,386
0.27%
01254
48.
Hull
3,316,562
47,251
0.27%
01482
49.
Middlesbrough
1,649,923
46,554
0.26%
01642
50.
Brentwood, Essex
863,113
46,299
0.26%
01277
Most of the United Kingdom’s major broadband, phone and mobile network providers have already implemented various technical measures to tackle Nuisance Calls and Scam Calls. But these aren’t always 100% effective, although the industry and Ofcom are constantly working to improve the situation (here).