Nearly 5.2 Billion Robocalls Break Record in January, According to YouMail Robocall Index

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The nation's robocalling epidemic continues apace, with 5.2 billion robocalls received nationwide in January, a new all-time high, surpassing the previous record set in October 2018 by slightly over 70 million robocalls. This volume equaled 167.3 million robocalls placed every day during January, and a record 1,936 robocalls for every second of the month.

"Robocallers have started the New Year with a bang by breaking the all-time monthly record," said YouMail CEO Alex Quilici. "The decline in robocalls in December was nice, but the robocallers clearly got back to business in January."

Robocalls Continue to Be Driven by Scams

Scam robocalls returned to their October and November levels, accounting for almost all the increased calls in January.

Combined scam and telemarketing calls accounted for roughly 58% of all robocalls in January, but with over 2.2 billion scams calls, an increase of over 600 million more scam calls from December.

January saw huge increases in volume for Health Insurance Scams, Student Loan Scams, and Easy Money Scams, while the Interest Rate Scams held steady. The big changes in the Top 5 involved the Easy Money Scams moving up to #4, and Search Listing Scams increasing in volume by nearly 50% to reach #5, displacing Warranty-Related scams.

Top 5 Scam Robocalls of January 2019

"Winners" in January 2019

The cities, area codes and states with the highest volumes of robocalls in January were very similar to the trends for December. Areas in the South continued to receive the most robocalls in January, just as they did for all of 2018.

These latest monthly figures come from YouMail, a free robocall blocking solution for mobile 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 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 and for specific area codes each 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 Federal Communications Commission (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. 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.