YouMail Robocall Index Posts a Record 4.4 Billion Robocalls in September

IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --The nation's robocalling problem continues to grow, reaching a new record of 4.4 billion robocalls received nationwide in September, the highest number of monthly robocalls recorded since the YouMail Robocall Index launched in 2015, and an 83.9% year-over-year increase. The volume equals some 147 million calls placed every day during September, or 1,701 robocalls for every second of the month, both new records.

These latest monthly figures come from YouMail, a free robocall blocking solution for mobile phones. YouMail uses its patented smart blocking technology to block 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 of robocall volume across the country each month, and in particular across specific area codes. 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 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a definitive source for national data trends.   

"Our huge national robocalling problem is getting bigger, despite the efforts of regulators and carriers," said YouMail CEO Alex Quilici. "To minimize the damage from this epidemic, we need everyone to continue not answering unknown numbers, use call blocking apps like ours, and make sure they do their homework before calling numbers back."

Robocalls Continue to Be Driven by Scams

Scams and telemarketing calls together now account for roughly 61% of all robocalls. The result is that a very large percentage of robocalls are calls that people just don't want.

The top five scam types changed only slightly between August and September. Health Insurance Scams continue to be number one, with over 400 million scam robocalls. In fact, a single health insurance spammer produced more than 250 million calls using roughly 264 different numbers from the 201 area code based in Newark, New Jersey.

In the rest of the top five list: Easy Money Scams increased volumes by 50% to move into the second position, while Interest Rate Scams stayed approximately flat in volume to take third place. Student Loan Scams moved up 10 million to take fourth, and Search Listing Scams dropped 13 million to fall into the fifth spot.

Who Gets the Most Robocalls

Texas is estimated to have gotten 501.4 million robocalls, the first state to receive more than one-half billion robocalls during a month. The state rankings by robocall volumes are:

The top 50 cities ranked by robocall volume are:

Hurricane Florence appears to have driven down robocalls to cities in the Carolinas. There were big decreases in robocalls in North Carolina, including Fayetteville down 17.5%; Greenville down 16%; Greensboro down 16%; and Raleigh down 11.7%.  In addition, South Carolina received fewer robocalls: Charleston saw a 7.6% drop, and Columbia saw a 3.9% drop.

For more information about the YouMail Robocall Index or to view the monthly reports, 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.

Contact:

Keya Balar for YouMail
Lumina Communications
[email protected] 
646-791-9600

SOURCE YouMail, Inc.