U.S. Phones Received Nearly 3.8 Billion Robocalls in February, Says YouMail Robocall Index
IRVINE, Calif., March 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In February, Americans received just under 3.8 billion robocalls, putting 2022 on pace to hit roughly 46 billion robocalls for the full year.
IRVINE, Calif., March 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In February, Americans received just under 3.8 billion robocalls, putting 2022 on pace to hit roughly 46 billion robocalls for the full year. This monthly call volume marked a 3.9% decrease from January.
However, because February has three fewer days than January, robocalls were actually up nearly 6.4% on a daily basis. Specifically, February averaged 134.2 million calls/day and 1,554 calls/second, compared to 126.3 million calls/day and 1,462 calls/second in January.
Over the latter half of 2021 and into early 2022, after the deployment of Stir/Shaken regulations, robocalls have stayed roughly in the 4 billion call/month range, which is where they were in mid-2018, and they have declined materially from the nearly 5 billion that occurred roughly a year ago, in March 2021.
"We are pleased to see that the combination of increased enforcement, deployment of Stir/Shaken, and increased consumer use of robocall blocking apps and services are contributing to robocalls now being far below their late 2019 peak," said YouMail CEO Alex Quilici. "Robocalls are still a large problem, but it's clear that progress is being made to lower robocall volumes."
These latest figures are provided by YouMail, a totally free robocall blocking app and call protection service for mobile phones. These figures are determined by extrapolating from the robocall traffic attempting to get through to YouMail's millions of active users.
Most Unwanted Robocall in February
February's most unwanted robocall campaign is estimated to have been the source of tens of millions of robocalls from roughly 1,000 different numbers, like this one for a loan approval scam. The callers identify themselves as representatives of Credit National Assist before leaving a variety of different messages like the following.
"Hi, there, it's Emily from Credit National Assist and I'm just following back up with you with your online request for getting some financial help and I was able to get you an approval. I think you're gonna like just know that the program does have limited openings so just call back soon to finalize the details. My number is 844-760-6200 and anyone of us can help you out just in case."
January's most unwanted Robocall Campaign of the Month was what appeared to be a marketing pitch to offer DirecTV at a discount. Since then, that campaign has been discovered to be a scam, and it has become the target of an investigation and lawsuit by the Michigan Attorney General.
Scam Calls Declined Materially in February 2022
In February, the number of scam calls decreased by 16%, to just over 1 billion calls in the month, while telemarketing calls decreased by 5%. Scams and telemarketing now account for only 45% of all telemarketing calls, down from 52% in the month of January, a very positive development. On the other hand, robocalls that are likely more wanted, like Notifications and Payment Reminders, were up 2% and 9% respectively for the month.
|
Type of |
Estimated February |
Percentage February |
|
Scams |
1.04 billion (-16%) |
28% (-4%) |
|
Notifications |
1.4 billion (+2%) |
37% (+2%) |
|
Payment Reminders |
0.7 billion (+9%) |
18% (+2%) |
|
Telemarketing |
0.62 billion (-5%) |
17% (flat) |
"Winners" in February 2022
In February, the same area codes and states that have had the most robocalls in recent months maintained their positions with one exception. Alabama replaced Tennessee as the state with the 2nd most robocalls/person, just behind South Carolina.
The other change in February involved Macon, Georgia, replacing Washington, DC, as the city with the third-most robocalls per person.
|
Cities with the Most Robocalls: |
Atlanta, GA (149.9 million, -1%) |
|
Cities with the Most Robocalls/Person: |
Baton Rouge, LA (30.9/person, -6%) |
|
Area Codes with the Most Robocalls: |
404 in Atlanta, GA (62.9million, -1%) |
|
Area Codes with the Most Robocalls/Person: |
404 in Atlanta, GA (51.5/person, -1%) |
|
State with the Most Robocalls: |
Texas (458.5 million, +0%) |
|
State with the Most Robocalls/Person: |
South Carolina (22.3/person, -4%) |
These data points are provided by YouMail, a free call protection app for mobile phones. YouMail recently won the American Business Awards' Gold Stevie Award for Technical Innovation of the Year, and the YouMail app was named the nation's best robocall-blocking solution in a competition organized by Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post.
YouMail blocks unwanted robocallers by making sure the user's phone doesn't ring, and then plays an out-of-service message that leads them to think they dialed an invalid number. YouMail identifies problematic numbers and robocalls using a combination of its recently patented audio fingerprinting technology, call patterns, and consumer feedback.
YouMail provides the YouMail Robocall Index to estimate robocall volume across the country and for specific area codes every month. This estimate is formed by extrapolating from the behavior of the billions of calls YouMail has handled for its users, and these statistics are regularly cited by the FCC as a definitive source for national data trends.
For a full ranking of cities, states and area codes, as well as details on the behavior of robocallers in each area code, please see http://robocallindex.com. To listen to actual voice messages left by robocallers, please visit the YouMail Directory. To join the YouMail Robocall Index mailing list, please write to [email protected].
About YouMail, Inc.
YouMail protects consumers, enterprises, and carriers from harmful phone calls. YouMail protects consumers with app-based call protection services in the US and the UK, with the YouMail, Another Number, and Hullo Mail apps. YouMail protects consumer-facing enterprises by detecting and helping to shut down imposter traffic that can lead to financial or brand damage. We protect carriers with robocall mitigation services that detect when bad traffic is originating, traversing, or terminating on their networks. Our direct consumer solutions answer over a billion live calls per year across well over 10 million registered users, powering America's most robust telephone sensor network in identifying and providing zero-hour protection against illegal calling campaigns and cyberattacks. We also operate the YouMail Robocall Index™, the nation's definitive source on telephone network activity and attacks. YouMail, Inc. is privately funded and based in Irvine, California.
Contact:
Rohan Notaney for YouMail
Lumina Communications
[email protected]
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SOURCE YouMail Inc.
