Spam Text Messages Soar 28% In March, According to RoboKiller

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Apr 07, 2022, 14:20 ET

NEW YORK, April 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Spam text messages took flight in March, as they soared a whopping 28% from February 2022. Meanwhile, spam calls leapt 21% month-over-month, according to data from RoboKiller, the app that eliminates 99% of spam calls and text messages.

In its Yearly Phone Scam Insights report, RoboKiller predicted that spam texts were no fad and would continue to pester Americans in 2022. So far, that's precisely what's happened. The Verizon scam text is just one example of this playing out in real-time.

Spam texts have become so widespread they've reached heights that not even spam calls have reached before. In March alone, spam text messages totaled 11 billion, the highest figure RoboKiller has ever observed for either spam type since it began monitoring spam calls in 2017.

Why the large increase? For one, the industry is focused on combating spam calls following the release of STIR/SHAKEN, a framework designed to curb spam calls using spoofed caller IDs (the percentage of spoofed spam calls remained relatively consistent in the months before and after the June 30, 2021 implementation deadline, signaling there's still work to be done in that pursuit). The framework does not address text messages and scammers know that.

March 2022 Key Phone Spam Trends

Americans were hit with a flurry of delivery- and political-related messages, the latter of which is likely due to the approaching midterm elections. RoboKiller identified a similar increase during the 2020 election season.

Top Spam Texts Nationwide:

Spam Text Category	Estimated Spam Texts	% of Total Spam Texts
Political-related	2,043,849,062	17.53%
Delivery (Amazon, UPS, USPS, etc.)	1,158,088,853	9.93%
Bank	356,400,340	3.06%

Top Spam Calls Nationwide:

Robocall Category	Estimated Spam Calls	% of Total Robocalls	Robocall Examples
Vehicle Warranty	1,038,964,754	13.75%	Listen to spam call recording
Health Insurance	550,840,222	7.29%	Listen to spam call recording

*All audio examples are phone scams blocked and audio fingerprinted by RoboKiller

View RoboKiller's recent blog post for tips to stay safe from text scams.

Tips On How To Stop Phone Scams:

Don't answer phone calls from unknown numbers, especially those that call or text at odd hours.
Don't follow prompts like "Press 1" or click any links.
Never provide personal information like banking details or other sensitive information to unknown callers.
Download a spam text and spam call blocker like RoboKiller to equip your phone with the latest technology to stop scams.

Any brand interested in protecting themselves against scams perpetrated under their name can contact our enterprise services team for more information.

About RoboKiller
With more than 12 million downloads and $400 million in losses prevented, RoboKiller is the leading independent spam call and text blocker. RoboKiller has been named a leader in technical and mobile achievement by the Webby Awards, Media Excellence, Best in Biz, and more. RoboKiller was named the most effective solution to robocalls by the FTC.

RoboKiller's robocall and spam text insights are powered by a global database of millions of phone scams and audio fingerprints. RoboKiller's proprietary data insights have been featured by The New York Times, ABC World News, NBC Nightly News, and many others.

For custom data inquiries, contact RoboKiller's insights team here or at [email protected]. For information about RoboKiller's enterprise spam blocking solutions, visit enterprise.robokiller.com.

RoboKiller is available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play. To learn more, visit www.robokiller.com.

RoboKiller, a Teltech brand, is a division of Mosaic Group, an IAC Company (NASDAQ: IAC).

SOURCE RoboKiller