U.S. Phones Slammed by 2.6 Billion Robocalls in July; 3% Rise Over June

IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The national robocalling nightmare rose to 2.59 billion calls received in July, a 2.7% increase over June and a 7.5% increase over the same month last year, bringing the total to 17.2 billion robocalls received nationwide in the first seven months of 2017.

Notably, Texas was blitzed by a record-breaking 307.9 million calls in July, or 11 robocalls per person, marking the most robocalls received by any state in a single month since recordkeeping began in June 2015. In addition, 40 of the 50 Most Robocalled Cities in America posted month-on-month increases in robocalling volumes in July.

The 2.59 billion calls received nationwide equals an estimated 83.8 million robocalls per day in July. That pace equates to 3.5 million robocalls per hour, or some 58,000 calls during every minute of the month. For any given hour, over 1% of the country received a robocall. In fact, the actual problem is worse because there are fewer calls during nighttime, meaning for any given hour during daytime, roughly 2% of the country is getting a robocall.

These estimates come from YouMail, a free service that has helped consumers stop over 500 million robocalls in the past year. YouMail compiles the scope and location of the worst robocalling hotspots across the country by area code in the YouMail Robocall Index™. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has cited statistics from the YouMail Robocall Index as a definitive source for national data trends, just as more consumers are downloading the YouMail app to safeguard their mobile phones.

"Despite increased efforts by the FCC and wireless carriers to fight back, our national robocalling plague continues to afflict too many American consumers," said Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail. "We would advise frustrated people to take direct action by downloading a call-blocking solution onto their phones and then avoid answering any calls made from unfamiliar numbers."

Inbound Robocalling "Lowlights" from July
Everything seems bigger in Texas, including the robocalling problem. Texas received the most robocalls in America for the 14^th straight month in July, setting a new state record with 307.9 million monthly calls. That figure marks just the third time ever that any state has exceeded 300 million robocalls in a single month.

Five Texas area codes made the list of the 20 Most Robocalled Area Codes in July, including area codes 832, 214, 817, 281 and 713. Houston and Atlanta both had three area codes on the Top 20 List. In addition, three Florida area codes and two in New York made the list for July.

Vermont posted the biggest month-on-month increase in robocalls for any state in July, rising 18% over June. Other states notching big gains in July included Utah (up 16.4%), Oregon (14.9%), Idaho (11.6%) and New Hampshire (10.8%).

Outbound Robocalling "Lowlights" from June
One national credit card company clung to the nation's most active robocalling phone number for the 23^rd straight month, placing more than 16.9 million calls in July. This single phone number has been responsible for 612.8 million robocalls made over those 23 months.

A large majority of robocalls in July were made by debt collectors, including two banks and one retailer which placed two phone numbers each on the Top 20 List of the nation's Most Prolific Robocalling Phone Numbers. Overall, those Top 20 Phone Numbers produced 186.8 million calls during the month.

California was the state that made the most robocalls in July by far, with 219.1 million calls placed. That compares to #2 Texas (178.4 million), #3 Florida (150.7 million), #4 New York (112.4 million), and #5 Ohio (97.5 million). Four area codes in Texas made the 20 Most Robocalling Area Codes List for July, including Dallas area code 469, San Antonio area code 210, and Houston area codes 281 and 832.

Los Angeles held onto its dubious distinction as the Most Prolific Robocalling City in July, rising 4.8% to 72 million calls placed. L.A. was followed by Chicago (64.5 million) and Dallas (62.3 million).

Five cities more than doubled their outbound robocalls in July, including Duluth, Minn. (up 276.9% over June), Rochester, Minn. (up 188.2%), Green Bay, Wis. (179.8%), Cedar Rapids, Iowa (120.2%) and Kalamazoo, Mich. (108.3%).

For more information about the YouMail Robocall Index or to view the latest report, please visit: http://robocallindex.com. To join the YouMail Robocall Index mailing list, please write to: [email protected].

About YouMail, Inc.
YouMail, Inc. is the leading provider of intelligent, cloud-based telecommunication services. The company's flagship service provides an automated virtual receptionist that replaces the subscriber's voicemail on iPhone, Android, and Windows phones. This service stops robocalls, provides free conference calls, and delights callers by instantly greeting, routing, and responding to callers, personally and memorably. YouMail also provides data on problematic phone number behavior, through a reverse phone lookup service that allows anyone to identify and comment on suspicious numbers, an application program interface (API) that any telecom service provider or third-party developer can use to determine whether a number is problematic, and the  YouMail Robocall Index™, which since its launch in in September 2015 has emerged as the nation's definitive source on robocalling data for telecom carriers, smartphone and app companies, and public policymakers. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., YouMail, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is privately funded.

Contact:
Matt Russell for YouMail
Lumina Communications
[email protected] 
646-741-8359

SOURCE YouMail, Inc.