Americans Plagued by More Than 2.7 Billion Robocalls Nationwide in November

Over 1 Billion Scam Calls Alone - Ruining People's Holiday Seasons

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Dec 12, 2017, 08:00 ET

IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- American consumers suffered through an estimated 2.74 billion robocalls in November, a 10% over the prior month, and a 15% increase over November 2016. This brought the national total to 27.7 billion robocalls received in the first 11 months of 2017.

The feverish pace of calling during November equates to 88.4 million robocalls/day, or roughly 1,024 robocalls every second of the month.

These latest figures come from YouMail, a free solution for both mobile phones and landlines that helps consumers stop robocalls from ever reaching their phones. 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 that the number they dialed is invalid. The YouMail Robocall Index™ is a compilation of the scope and location of the worst robocalling hotspots across the country by area code, whose statistics are cited by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a definitive source for national data trends.

Have I Got A Deal For You!

Unfortunately, at least 1 billion calls last month were placed by scammers, who use malicious tactics to prey on consumers, and who focus on getting credit card, social security number, or other personally identifying information. Among the most frequent ploys in November were scams leveraging consumer desires to have more money for the holidays or to get out of debt. These included claiming they can provide dramatically lower interest rates on credit card or student loan debt, or have magically gotten preapproval for large loans to people with bad credit.

"Due to the recent spike in robocall volumes and scam calls, we are advising consumers to protect themselves from holiday scammers who make promises that that are literally too good to be true," said Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail. "We are warning people to let any calls from unfamiliar numbers go to voicemail, and then run robocall-blocking apps like YouMail. And remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

Cities Getting The Most Robocalls: Low Lights From November

Inbound robocalls increased month-over-month in 49 of the Top 50 Most Robocalled Cities in America. Only #37 Austin was spared, posting a 2% month-on-month decrease.

Atlanta was the most robocalled city in America, holding onto that dubious distinction for the 24^th straight month. Atlanta residents were blitzed by nearly 122 million robocalls in the month, an 11% increase over October. Atlanta area code 404 also topped the list of Most Robocalled Area Codes with more than 56 million calls received in the month.

Miami notched the largest monthly gain of any city on the list, recording an 18% increase in robocall volumes for November to reach #13 on the Top 50 List. Other big "movers" during the month included #36 Nashville, which moved up eight spots in the rankings, and #41 Buffalo, which gained six spots.

Several other smaller metro areas did not make the Top 50 List but still posted remarkable increases in robocall volumes for November, including Lincoln, Neb. (up 711%); Rochester, Minn. (288%); Victorville, Calif. (63%); Southfield, Mich. (35%); and Evansville, Ind. (28.1%).

States Getting The Most Robocalls: Low Lights From November

Texas held onto the lead as the nation's most robocalled state for the second month in a row, receiving over 310.6 million calls. As a result, four Texas area codes (214, 832, 817 and 210) made the list of the 20 Most Robocalled Area Codes in November as well.

Alaska notched the biggest statewide percentage increase in robocalls month-on-month (up 160%), followed by Connecticut (50.7%), and Iowa (34.9%).

Making Robocalls: "Lowlights" from November

A majority of the Top 20 robocalling numbers (15 of 20) were controlled by various types of payment reminders for banks, retailers, student loans, and phone and cable companies. One national credit card company held its position as controller of the country's most active robo-dialing phone line, placing nearly 33.1 million calls in November alone. That single robocalling number has placed a staggering 700 million calls since the YouMail Robocall Index was launched in June 2015.

For the first time in the history of the Robocall Index, six cities placed more than 50 million robocalls each in a single month, including Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, Chicago and Houston. Dallas blew past L.A. as the city that generated the most monthly robocalls, placing roughly 78.4 million outbound calls in November, up 22% over October. Washington, DC area code 202 ranked as the area code generating the most robocalls for the fourth straight month with 42.3 million calls placed.

Four smaller cities more than doubled their outbound robocall activity in November over October. They included St. Cloud, Minn. (up 382.7%); Sioux City, Iowa (187.3%); Anchorage, Alaska (159.9%); and Daytona Beach, Fla. (109.4%).

Texas topped the list of most prolific robocalling states by placing nearly 217.9 million outbound calls, a 16.8% increase over October. Other high-volume states included California (200.9 million); Florida (150.5 million); New York (119.7 million); and Georgia (89.9 million).

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 and delights other callers by instantly greeting, routing, and responding to them, personally and memorably, and even provides free conference calls 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.