4.1 Billion Robocalls Mark 15.7% Decline in March, Says YouMail Robocall Index

Nearly 13.7 Billion Robocalls Have Been Made So Far in 2020; Coronavirus Slowing the Pace

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Apr 08, 2020, 09:00 ET

IRVINE, Calif., April 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Americans received just under 4.1 billion robocalls in March, a 15.7% decline from February. The month of March averaged over 132 million calls per day, or roughly 1,533 calls per second, a whopping 20% decline from the 166 million robocalls per day in January. March robocalls were 28% lower than last October's monthly peak of 5.7 billion calls.

These latest monthly figures come from YouMail, a totally free robocall blocking app for mobile phones.

"While March's decline provides welcome relief to beleaguered consumers, it's unlikely to last given the decline appears to be driven by the impact of COVID-19 social distancing restrictions on call centers," said YouMail CEO Alex Quilici. "It's a shame it has taken a global pandemic to make a real dent in the robocall epidemic."

March Decrease Was Primarily Due to Reduced Payment Reminders and Scams

March saw payment reminders decrease by 31% and spam calls decrease by 17%, both most likely due to the unavailability of call centers to handle people who return calls or "press 1" when called. Telemarketing calls and alerts and reminders were both relatively flat.

Type of Robocall	Estimated March Robocalls	Percentage March Robocalls
Scams	1.65 billion (-17%)	40%
Alerts and Reminders	1.1 billion (flat)	26%
Payment Reminders	.69 billion (-31%)	17%
Telemarketing	0.68 billion (+3%)	17%

Top Illegal Robocalls in March 2020

March saw a big increase in Medical Scams, Car Warranty Scams, and Search Listing Scams, while seeing a big decrease in Government Imposter Scams and Interest Rate Scams – many of which are known to originate outside the US in terms of types and volumes. Overall, there were six types of scams that made at least 100 million calls in the month.

Rank	Type of Scam	Estimated March Robocalls	Summary of Scam
1	Health-Related Scams	402.4m	Identity theft/scam payments/illegal solicitations
2	Interest Rate Scams	191.5m	Identify theft/financial scams
3	Warranty Scams	157.3m	Scam payments
4	Student Loan Scams	126.5m	Identify theft/scam payments
5	Debt Reduction	115.7m	Identify theft/financial scams
6	Search Listings	106.7m	Identify theft/scam payments

"Winners" in March 2020

The cities, area codes and states with the highest volumes of robocalls in March were similar to past months, though each experienced very significant declines in volume.

City with the Most Robocalls:	Atlanta, GA (165.8 million, -11%)
City with the Most Robocalls/Person:	Washington, DC (43/person, -13%)
Area Code with the Most Robocalls:	404 in Atlanta, GA (68.5 million, -14%)
Area Code with the Most Robocalls/Person:	404 in Atlanta, GA (56/person, -14%)
State with the Most Robocalls:	Texas (445.6 million, -15%)
State with the Most Robocalls/Person:	Louisiana (25/person, -17%)

These data are provided by YouMail, a free call protection app for mobile phones. YouMail recently won the American Business Awards' Gold Stevie Award for Technical Innovation of the Year, and the YouMail app was named the nation's best robocall-blocking solution in a competition organized by Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post.

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 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 robocall volume across the country and for specific area codes every month. 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 FCC as a definitive source for national data trends.

For a full ranking of cities, states and area codes, as well as details on the behavior of robocallers in each area code, please see http://robocallindex.com. To listen to actual voice messages left by robocallers, please visit the YouMail Directory. To join the YouMail Robocall Index mailing list, please write to [email protected].

About YouMail, Inc.

YouMail, Inc. provides imaginative, intelligent, cloud-based telecommunication services. These include its free app-based service to block robocalls, and its premium call management services for people who use their mobile phones for business. YouMail's services free users from limitations of their mobile phone or carrier – protecting against unwanted calls, helping them handle high volumes of mobile calls, unifying virtual numbers with their cell number, and providing personalized answering experiences for their callers. YouMail has stopped over a billion robocalls, has given hundreds of millions of callers the experience they deserve, and has delighted millions of users. The YouMail Robocall Index™, 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:

Rohan Notaney for YouMail
Lumina Communications
[email protected]
650-814-9651

SOURCE YouMail, Inc.