No Lazy Summer Days As 2.9 Billion August Robocalls Smash Monthly Record

IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Americans endured a record-breaking 2.9 billion robocalls in August, far surpassing the previous record of 2.6 billion calls received in a single month since the YouMail Robocall Index™ was launched in 2015.

The 2.9 billion total calls in August marked an 11.8% spike in robocall volumes over July, and a 10% increase over the same month last year. That amount equals approximately 93.7 million robocalls received every day during August, or 1,085 calls per second, also setting a national record. Overall, the U.S. population has received more than 20 billion robocalls in just the first eight months of 2017 alone.

A whopping 37 cities notched double-digit increases in robocall volumes in August, with four cities recording increases of 20% or more. The top gainers included Springfield Gardens, NY (up 28%), followed by Denver (up 25%), West Palm Beach, FL (up 22%), and Las Vegas (up 21%).

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 the best efforts of FCC regulators and phone carriers, our national robocalling epidemic continues to grow at a staggering pace due to the extremely low-cost of setting up a robo-dialing operation," said Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail. "As a result, more consumers are taking matters into their own hands by deploying new robo-blocking solutions directly on their mobile phones."

Inbound Robocalling "Lowlights" from August

For the 21st month in a row, Atlanta topped the YouMail 50 Most Robocalled City in America™ list with its residents receiving more than 131.5 million robocalls— an 11% increase vs. the previous month. The Top 10 Most-Robocalled Cities in August also included (#2) Dallas; (#3) New York; (#4) Chicago; (#5) Houston; (#6) Los Angeles; (#7) Baltimore; (#8) Newark; (#9) Philadelphia; and (#10) Detroit.

Houston residents, who bore the brunt of Hurricane Harvey in late August, still received 98.9 million robocalls during the month, though the city dropped from #4 to #5 on the Most Robocalled Cities list.

Overall, the state of Texas received 338.4 million robocalls in August, easily shattering the previous record-breaking monthly total of 307.9 million robocalls received in July. Five Texas area codes made the list of the Top 20 Most Robocalled Area Codes in August, including the 832, 713 and 281 area codes in greater Houston.

States that recorded the largest monthly increases for August included South Dakota (up 38.2% over July); Montana (up 28.1%); Colorado (up 25.3); Hawaii (23.9%); and New Mexico (20.0%).

Outbound Robocalling "Lowlights" from August

Various debt collectors for banks, retailers, cable companies and student loans made up 18 of 20 of the Most Prolific Robocalling Numbers for August. A number registered to the American Red Cross ranked as the nation's 17^th top robocalling line, with 6.1 million calls placed – likely due to appeals for donations to the victims of Hurricane Harvey.

One national credit card company has continued to hold the most active robocalling phone number every month for two straight years, including 19.3 million calls placed in August. This one robo-dialing number has placed 632.1 million robocalls over the last 24 months.

In August, 11 cities more than doubled their outbound robocall activity over July. Dallas reclaimed the top spot as the city that generated the most robocalls in August, overtaking Los Angeles with 80.6 million robocalls, a 29.4% increase over July.

The city of Rochester, Minn., led the country with a 377.1% increase in outbound calls during August. Other cities with outsized growth in outbound calling included Freeville, NY (up 143.2%); Grand Island, Nebraska (up 137.6%); and Billings, Mont. (up 137.1%).

California was the state that led the country with 229.7 million outbound calls in August. Other top states included Texas (205 million), Florida (171.4 million), New York (129.5 million) and Ohio (96.8 million). Montana chalked up the biggest monthly increase in outbound calls of any state, rising 137.1% over July, followed by Maine (109.5%), Alaska (82.6%), Minnesota (72.8%) and West Virginia (66.8%).

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.

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