National Robocall Volumes Jump 15% in March to Topple Monthly Records

3.15 Billion Total Robocalls Sets New All-Time Monthly High for the YouMail Robocall Index

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Apr 10, 2018, 09:00 ET

IRVINE, Calif., April 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The nation's robocalling crisis has grown to epidemic proportions with an estimated 3.15 billion robocalls made in March, increasing 15% over February, and 29% over March of last year.

This is the highest number of monthly robocalls and the first time that calling volumes have topped 3 billion robocalls in one month since YouMail launched the National Robocall Index™ in 2015. The record pace of robocalls in March equaled approximately 1,178 robocalls per second (up from 1,136 per second in February), or roughly 101.8 million robocalls per day (up from 98.1 million per day in February).

The increase in robocalls per day was primarily driven by a big jump in telemarketing calls (up 19%) and scam calls (up 13%) and a smaller increase in payment reminders (up 7%), while alerts and reminders remained relatively constant.

These latest figures come from YouMail, a free solution for both mobile phones and landlines that helps consumers stop robocalls from ever reaching their phones. 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 that the number they dialed is invalid.

The YouMail Robocall Index™ is a compilation of the scope and location of the worst robocalling hotspots across the country by area code, and these statistics are regularly cited by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a definitive source for national data trends.

"Despite a growing focus on this problem by government officials, telecom carriers and smartphone makers alike, we continue to see robocall volumes spike across the United States on a regular basis, with no apparent end in sight," said YouMail CEO Alex Quilici. "Frustrated consumers and businesspeople should make it a point to not answer any calls they get from unfamiliar numbers, and we recommend that Americans also install some type of robocall blocking software onto their phones."

Locations Receiving the Most Calls: Beware the Robocalling Ides of March!

Atlanta topped the YouMail 50 Most Robocalled Cities in America™ list for the 28th month in a row, fueled by a 16% month-on-month increase in call volumes as Atlanta residents received nearly 138.1 million robocalls in March.

In fact, 100% of the 50 Most Robocalled Cities in America experienced month-on-month increases in robocall volumes for March. The month's 10 most-robocalled cities remained the same as for February: #1 Atlanta, GA; #2 New York, NY; #3 Dallas, TX; #4 Chicago, IL; #5 Los Angeles, CA; #6 Houston, TX; #7 Baltimore, MD; #8 Newark, NJ; #9 Philadelphia, PA; and #10 San Francisco Bay Area, CA.

Two new cities also squeaked onto the 50 Most Robocalled Cities in America list for March, including #48 New Haven, CT, and #50 Pittsburgh, PA.

The biggest "movers" on the 50 Most-Robocalled Cities in America list for the month were #31 Boston, MA (up 13 spots); followed by #18 Seattle, WA (up 7 spots); and #36 St. Louis, MO (up 6 spots). Other cities that posted big increases in March included Fargo, ND (up 40%), Des Moines, IA (up 38%), and Rockford, IL (up 36%).

All 50 states saw an increase in robocall volumes month-on-month, as California overtook Texas to become the most-robocalled state for March. California got battered by 347.4 million robocalls, followed closely by Texas with 344.7 million robocalls.

Locations Making the Most Calls: Robo-March Madness Sweeps the Nation!

New York overtook Chicago to claim the top spot as the city that generated the most robocalls in March. The New York metro area produced nearly 99.6 million robocalls in the month, followed by Chicago (95.8 million outbound calls) and Los Angeles, (85.9 million).

For the first time in the history of the Robocall Index, eight cities each placed more than 50 million robocalls in a single month. They included New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Phoenix, and Newark.

Rochester, MN, had the biggest month-on-month percentage increase in outbound calls, rising a whopping 421% over February; followed by Victorville, CA (up 66%); Fargo, ND (up 40%); Des Moines, IA (up 38%); and Rockford, IL (up 36%).

Lincoln, NE, posted a huge 258% increase in outbound robocalls for the month. Other cities that had big gains in March included Southaven, MS (up 155%), Topeka, KS (up 118%), and Flint, MI (up 101%).

California produced nearly 244.2 million robocalls in March – a 15% increase over February – to reclaim the #1 spot as the most-prolific robocalling state. Other populous states that produced the most robocalls in March included Texas (217.7 million), Florida (181.2 million), New York (163.2 million), and Ohio (104.3 million). Among smaller states, North Dakota saw the biggest percentage increase in outbound robocalls for March (up 97.1%), followed by Vermont (up 71.3%), Hawaii (up 69.5%), and Delaware (up 54.3%).

Fully 80% the Top-20 robocalling phone numbers in March (16 of 20) were payment reminders and debt collectors. One national credit card company retained the country's most-active robocalling phone number with nearly 43.6 million calls placed in the month of March alone. Over the past 30 months, this number has placed 865.7 million calls.

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, 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.