4.74 Billion Robocalls Mark 4% Rise In January, Says YouMail Robocall Index

Monthly Robocalls Are Down Roughly 16% From Their All-Time High in October 2019

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Feb 06, 2020, 09:00 ET

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Americans received just over 4.7 billion robocalls in January, a 4% increase from December, but a 16% decrease from October's all-time monthly record of nearly 5.7 billion robocalls. This month-over-month increase happened despite widely publicized enforcement actions in both December and January.

The month of January averaged over 150 million robocalls per day, or 1,771 robocalls per second. These latest monthly figures come from YouMail, a totally free robocall blocking app for mobile phones.

"It's nice to see January continue this three-month trend of declining robocalls, with totals substantially below October's all-time high," said YouMail CEO Alex Quilici. "However, the volume of calls remains stubbornly high."

January Increase Was Primarily Due To Increased Spam Calls

Spam calls increased by 8% in January (as scammers likely returned from vacation) and payment reminders increased by 5% (as reminders for end-of-year expenses started going out).

Type of Robocall	Estimated December Robocalls	Percentage December Robocalls
Scams	2.1 billion (+8%)	44%
Alerts and Reminders	1.1 billion (flat)	24%
Payment Reminders	1.0 billion (+5%)	22%
Telemarketing	0.48 billion (-6%)	10%

Top Illegal Robocalls in January 2020

In January, seven types of scams exceeded 100 million calls each, with a big decline in Medical Scams, and big increases in Interest Rate, Debt Reduction, and Student Loan scams.

Rank	Type of Scam	Estimated January Robocalls	Summary of Scam
1	Health-Related Scams	328.5m	Identity theft/scam payments/illegal solicitations
2	Interest Rate Scams	252.3m	Identify theft/financial scams
3	Debt Reduction	134.6m	Identify theft/financial scams
4	Student Loan Scams	129.4m	Identify theft/scam payments
5	Govt. Imposter Scams	127.7m	Illegal solicitations/scam payments
6	Easy Money Scams	120.1m	Identify theft/scam payments
7	Warranty Scams	105.9m	Scam payments

The top 5 specific annoying telemarketing and/or scam calls that people received in the U.S. during January continued to be related to illegal lead generation for health insurance, scams around lowered interest rates, and illegal lead generation for debt reduction schemes.

1	Health Insurance – PPO Policies We Offer	130.8m
2	Interest Rate – Member Services Department	98.2m
3	Interest Rate - Preapproved as a Valued Customer	80.4 m
4	Debt Reduction Scam – As Of Right Now	72.7m
5	Interest Rate – Alice From Visa Card Services	67.3m

"Winners" in January 2020

The cities, area codes and states with the highest volumes of robocalls in December were similar to the past months, with each experiencing decreased volumes.

City with the Most Robocalls:	Atlanta, GA (185.9 million, +2%)
City with the Most Robocalls/Person:	Washington, DC (48.4/person, +5%)
Area Code with the Most Robocalls:	404 in Atlanta, GA (79.6 million, +2%)
Area Code with the Most Robocalls/Person:	404 in Atlanta, GA (65.1/person, +2%)
State with the Most Robocalls:	Texas (518.2 million, +2%)
State with the Most Robocalls/Person:	Louisiana (28.8/person, +2%)

Interestingly, robocalls in Iowa were up 14% in January, which is likely due to an increase in political robocalls. However, Vermont (+20%), Maine (+16%), Montana (+16%), Wyoming (+15%), and South Dakota (+14%) saw similar or larger increases.

These data are provided by YouMail, a free robocall blocking 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 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.