U.S. Robocall Volume Rises 43% to Nearly 1 Billion Calls in November, According to Latest YouMail National Robocall Index™ Report

IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- An estimated 980.8 million robocalls were placed to U.S. phones in the month of November, marking a 43% sequential increase in the nation's monthly robocall volume. This figure comes from the latest National Robocall Index™ report released today by YouMail, Inc., the leading provider of intelligent voice communications services for consumers and small businesses.

The Robocall Index is a free monthly report that tracks robocall volumes across the U.S. The data is based on callers blocked and/or reported as spam by millions of YouMail subscribers nationwide. Having answered many billions of calls for subscribers since 2007, YouMail is uniquely positioned to aggregate its calling data for this Robocall Index.

November Robocalling Highlights

For the third straight month, New York City was the country's most robocalled city. New York received 45.5 million robocalls in November, marking a 24% monthly decrease from October. The other Top Five most robocalled cities in November were Atlanta (42.1 million), Los Angeles (38.8 million), Houston (29.7 million) and Dallas-Fort Worth (29.3 million). Houston and Dallas have also ranked in the Top Five most robocalled cities for three straight months.

The city where the most robocalls originated in November was Columbus, Ohio, with 40.7 million calls placed – more than twice as many as second-ranked Atlanta (19.8 million).

A major credit card company topped the robocall list for the third month in a row, with some 37.6 million calls made. The second most aggressive robodialer was a company trying to collect on student loans. In fact, 15 of the Top 20 robocallers in November were debt collectors of some kind.

Other prolific robocallers that were not debt collectors included a scam that targeted unsuspecting consumers to accept charges from a "friend" in prison; a cable company sales call; a federal health insurance provider; and various telemarketers.

Las Vegas (down 16% in November) and Phoenix (down 10%) were the only cities other than New York that experienced robocall decreases of 10% or more. Ten cities had robocall increases of 10% or more, including New Orleans (up 19%) Columbia, SC (up 17%) and Boston (up 16%).

Three of the Top 20 most robocalled cities were in Florida, including Miami (#15), Orlando (#17) and Fort Lauderdale (#18). Seven of the Top 50 cities were in California, including Los Angeles (#3), San Francisco Bay Area (#8), Riverside (#13), San Diego (#14), Sacramento (#27), Fresno (#28), and Long Beach (#41).

Ineffective Policies Create Need for Blocking Technologies

Robocalls have been a major public concern for decades, but legislative attempts to curtail them, including the 2003 National Do-Not-Call Registry, have been largely ineffective. Robocallers can place thousands of calls in seconds from overseas dialers outside of FCC jurisdiction. A resolution passed by the FCC in June gave the FCC greater authority to fine spammers and spoofers, and it allows telephone carriers to offer robocall-blocking services to customers.

"To really solve a problem, you first need to measure it so you can track progress," said Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail.  "The hundreds of thousands of complaints about robocalls just scratch the surface, as our YouMail Robocall Index shows there are many hundreds of millions of robocalls made every month. It's a huge time drain on American productivity at best, and continually leads to fraud and crimes committed against unsuspecting citizens."

YouMail is an automated personal receptionist that helps consumers and small businesses manage their calls better. It works on Apple iOS and Android-based smartphones as well as landlines. The service includes a proprietary technology called Smart Blocking™ that detects robocalls, including those generated by spoofing systems, and tricks the callers into thinking that the subscriber's number has been disconnected, and calls stop coming in as the subscriber gets removed from call lists.

For more information about the YouMail Robocall Index or to view the latest report, please visit: http://www.youmail.com/phone-lookup/robocall-index. 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 a digital personal receptionist that replaces the subscriber's voicemail on iPhone, Android, and Windows phones. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., YouMail, Inc. is privately funded.

Contact:
Liana Hawes for YouMail
Gutenberg Communications
[email protected] 
212-242-2275 / 917-912-7484

SOURCE YouMail, Inc.