Most Reported Scam Phone Numbers in October 2026

The most reported phone number in October 2026 was (833) 766-1884 (833-766-1884): 523 complaints to the FTC, most of them about a caller pretending to be a government agency, a business, or someone the consumer knows. But debt relief was the month's dominant pitch: 13 of the top 15 numbers were reported mostly for debt relief offers, and 26% of all complaints were about debt relief.

In total, US consumers filed 250,502 Do Not Call complaints about unwanted and scam calls in October, involving 211,899 different phone numbers. Most of those numbers barely register: 195,894 of them - 92% - were reported exactly once, and only 423 reached 10 complaints or more. That pattern is typical of caller ID spoofing. Robocall operations rotate through thousands of numbers, often faked to look local, so a single number rarely collects many reports. When one does, it usually means a campaign kept using it.

Top number: (833) 766-1884, reported for impersonation

Complaints about (833) 766-1884 came from 46 states and Washington, DC. Of the 523, 330 said the caller pretended to be a government agency, a business, or a family member or friend, and 458 involved a recorded message. No. 3, (775) 438-1723, drew 378 complaints, a mix of impersonation (166) and debt relief pitches (106).

Debt relief calls dominated October

All 13 other numbers in the top 15 were reported mostly under "Reducing your debt (credit cards, mortgage, student loans)". Across all complaints, debt relief was the largest named topic with 65,883 reports (26%), more than twice as many as impersonation (27,713, or 11%). Another 39% of complaints were filed under the complaint form's catch-all "Other".

Number blocks to watch: 217-863, 217-834 and 866-771

Two prefixes in area code 217, which belongs to central Illinois, showed up repeatedly near the top. The 217-863 block - 18 numbers, including No. 2 on the list, (217) 863-7429, and No. 4, (217) 863-7210 - drew 873 complaints. The 217-834 block - 20 numbers, including No. 5, (217) 834-9551, and No. 12, (217) 834-9394 - drew 822. Despite the Illinois area code, only about 8% of those complaints came from Illinois; California residents filed more complaints than Illinois residents about each block.

The biggest block of all was toll-free: 123 numbers in the 866-771 block drew 1,357 complaints, and three of them ranked No. 7, No. 10 and No. 11 on the list. Toll-free codes 833, 866, 877, 855 and 888, in that order, were the five area codes with the most complaints, and toll-free numbers accounted for about one complaint in five (47,908). A toll-free number is not a sign that a call is legitimate.

Per resident, Nebraska filed the most complaints

California filed the most complaints (29,150), followed by Florida (22,648) and Texas (18,342). Per capita the ranking changes: Nebraska led with about 114 complaints per 100,000 residents, followed by Tennessee (106) and Arizona (104). Among the three largest states, Florida (97) was well ahead of California (74) and Texas (58). Population figures: US Census Bureau estimates for July 1, 2025.

What to do if one of these numbers calls you

• Do not press a key to "opt out" - the FTC warns that this will probably only lead to more robocalls. Do not call the number back either.
• Blocking a single number helps little when callers rotate numbers. Turn on your carrier's spam call filtering or silence unknown callers. A call from another number in the 217-863, 217-834 or 866-771 blocks may well be part of the same campaign.
• If the caller pitched debt relief: companies that sell debt relief by phone cannot charge you until they have settled or reduced at least one of your debts and you have made a payment under the new deal. A request for a fee up front is a red flag.
• Report the call at donotcall.gov, and at reportfraud.ftc.gov if you lost money or shared personal information.

Check any number's complaint history with the DialCode phone lookup, or see the numbers reported in the last 30 days.