Nearly 5 Billion Robocalls in February, According to YouMail Robocall Index

National Monthly Total Dips, But No Joy as It's Still an All Time Record of Robocalls/Day

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Mar 07, 2019, 09:00 ET

IRVINE, Calif., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- February was a "good news, bad news" month for robocalls. The good news: the total number of robocalls received nationwide in February was approximately 4.9 billion, down from an all-time high of 5.2 billion robocalls in January. The bad news: this volume equaled 174.9 million robocalls placed every day during February, and a record 2,024 robocalls for every second of the month. These latest monthly figures come from YouMail, a free robocall blocking solution for mobile phones.

"The robocall problem shows no signs of letting up, as there continue to be more and more robocalls every day," said YouMail CEO Alex Quilici. "This is despite regulators, carriers, and others all working hard to try to make a dent in the problem."

Robocalls Continue to Be Driven by Scams

Despite the shorter month of February, scam robocalls increased significantly to 2.27 million calls, or over 80 million per day, and scams now account for at least 46% of all robocalls.

Type of Robocall	Estimated Feb. Robocalls	Percentage of Feb. Robocalls
Alerts and Reminders	1.02 billion (-7 million)	21% (+0%)
Payment Reminders	885 million (-83 million)	18% (-1%)
Telemarketing	733 million (-205 million)	15% (-2%)
Scams	2.277 million (+61 million)	46% (+3%)

February volumes held steady for the Top 5 Robocall Scams, which remained similar to the January figures. The Top 5 Robocall Scams include Health/Health Insurance scams, Interest Rate Scams, Easy Money Scams, Student Loan Scams, and Search Listing Scams. The big changes in the Top 5 involved the Easy Money Scams moving up to #3, and Student Loans scams dropping to #4.

Top 5 Scam Robocalls of February 2019

Rank	Type of Scam	Estimated Feb. Robocalls	Summary of Scam
1	Health/Health Insurance Scams	474.7m (+12.5 million)	Identify theft/scam payments
2	Interest Rate Scams	172.3m (+8.2 million)	Identify theft
3 (+1)	Easy Money Scams	131.9m (+10.2 million)	Pay to make money/get job
4 (-1)	Student Loan Scans	118.8m (-12.5 million)	Identify theft/scam payments
5	Search Listing Scams	100.1m (+.6 million)	Fake search listing fees

"Winners" in February 2019

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

Atlanta, GA, once again topped the list of cities with the most robocalls with 200.1 million robocalls received, while residents in Baton Rouge, LA, received 53 calls per person.

City with the Most Robocalls:	Atlanta, GA (200.1 million)
City with the Most Robocalls/Person:	Baton Rouge, LA (53/person)
Area Code with the Most Robocalls:	404 in Atlanta, GA (87.8 million)
Area Code with the Most Robocalls/Person:	404 in Atlanta, GA (72/person)
State with the Most Robocalls:	Texas (552 million)
State with the Most Robocalls/Person:	Louisiana (32.5/person)

This data is provided by YouMail, a free robocall blocking app 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 the 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.