YouMail Releases Detailed Breakdown of U.S. Robocalls in February

YouMail Releases Detailed Breakdown of U.S. Robocalls in February

Users on Some Wireless Carriers Received More Robocalls Than on Others

IRVINE, Calif., March 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- YouMail, the provider of free robocall blocking software and the YouMail Robocall Index(TM), announced the results of the detailed analysis of the types and volumes of the over 2.7 billion robocalls made in the U.S. in February. The analysis includes a breakdown of robocall volumes by major carriers, types of robocalls, and types of robocall scams.

Robocall Volume by Carriers

YouMail has conducted a first-ever analysis to understand how one wireless carrier may differ from another in terms of robocall volumes, allowing us to track the impact of each carrier's efforts to lower robocalls to their users.

For February, YouMail has looked at the estimated volume of robocalls/user/month coming in for each of the major carriers, along with a smaller carrier where every user has the YouMail robocall blocking service.

Observed Robocalls Per User by Wireless Carrier for February

    Carrier                     Robocalls/User
    -------                     --------------

    T-Mobile                                                        10.3
    --------                                                        ----

    AT&T Wireless                                                   10.1
    -------------                                                   ----

    Sprint                                                           8.5
    ------                                                           ---

    Verizon                                                          8.0
    -------                                                          ---

    Blue Wireless                                                    2.5
    -------------                                                    ---

Among the major carriers, T-Mobile users received the most robocalls, at an average of 10.3 calls in February, while Verizon users received an average of 8.0. YouMail estimated that the carrier with the most robocalls/user (T-Mobile) had 28% more robocalls per person on average than the one with the fewest (Verizon).

YouMail's data also shows that if carriers implement a call blocking solution like YouMail on their networks, the robocalls being made to that carrier's users will decrease by as much as 75%.

Types of Robocalls

YouMail's data shows that there was relatively little change in the breakdown of robocalls by category from January to February.

Estimated National Robocalls By Type

    Category             January     February
    --------             -------     --------

    Alerts and Reminders         27%          28%
    --------------------         ---           ---

    Payment Reminders            33%          32%
    -----------------            ---           ---

    Telemarketing                15%          16%
    -------------                ---           ---

    Scams                        25%          24%
    -----                        ---           ---

YouMail for the first time has estimates on the relative breakdown of robocalls received by users of each wireless carrier.

Breakdown of Robocall Types By Wireless Carrier

    Category             AT&T     Verizon      Sprint       T-Mobile
    --------             ----     -------      ------       --------

    Alerts and Reminders      28%         26%         30%            31%
    --------------------      ---          ---          ---             ---

    Payment Reminders         32%         31%         33%            33%
    -----------------         ---          ---          ---             ---

    Telemarketing             17%         16%         15%            15%
    -------------             ---          ---          ---             ---

    Scams                     23%         27%         22%            21%
    -----                     ---          ---          ---             ---

The behavior across wireless carriers is mostly consistent, with one notable exception. Verizon users had the highest percentage of robocalls that were scams of one kind or another - almost 30% higher than T-mobile users, who had the lowest.

Top Scams in February

The top scams by frequency continue to be mostly financial in nature, designed to trick personal information out of consumers, such as their credit card numbers or Social Security numbers. Below are the Top 10 scam categories from February, their estimated volumes, and a comparison to previous months.

    February
     Rank    January Rank     Scam Type               February Estimated Volume Scam Type
    -------- ------------     ---------               ------------------------- ---------

    1                       1  Interest Rate Scam      81.7m (80.1m)             "0% interest rates"
    ---                   ---  ------------------      ------------              -------------------

    2                       2  Credit Card Issues      69.7m (70.5m)             "Problem with your credit card"
    ---                   ---  ------------------      ------------              -------------------------------

    3                       3  Student Loan Scams      56.7m (76.2m)             "Forgive/lower student debt"
    ---                   ---  ------------------      ------------              ----------------------------

    4                       4  Business Loan Scams     38.4m (36.3m)             "Preapproved for business loan"
    ---                   ---  -------------------     ------------              -------------------------------

    5                       5  Preapproved Loan Scams  30.1m (22.2m)             "Ready to wire - just need info"
    ---                   ---  ----------------------  ------------              --------------------------------

    6                       6  Search Listing Scams    29.7m (26.2m)             "Listing has a problem"
    ---                   ---  --------------------    ------------              -----------------------

    7                       5  Travel Scams            22.8m (28.0m)             "Free/discount trip"
    ---                   ---  ------------            ------------              --------------------

    8                       - IRS Scams               22.5m (11.2m)             "Owe money to the IRS"
    ---                   --- ---------               ------------              ----------------------

    9                       8  Utility Scams           17.7m (12.2m)             "Save money - need your info"
    ---                   ---  -------------           ------------              -----------------------------

    10                      9  Debt Reduction Scam     16.3m (3.9m)              "Free you from all your debt"
    ---                   ---  -------------------     -----------               -----------------------------

Consumers should be cautious, as there are recent surges in Debt-Reduction Scams (over 12 million more calls); IRS Scams (over 11 million more calls); and Preapproved Loan Scams (nearly 10 million more calls). Utility-Related Scams also increased in frequency with over 5.5 million more robocalls received. However, the number of Travel-Related Scam robocalls decreased last month

How This Analysis Was Done

To generate this first look at exactly which types of scam robocalls are being made in the U.S., YouMail relied on its patent-pending communication fingerprinting technology to identify and categorize robocalls made to its substantial user base. YouMail's fingerprinting technology can detect whether a voicemail message left for a given phone number is similar to a voicemail message left to any other phone number, allowing YouMail not only to recognize when a phone number is an unwanted robocaller, but also to recognize exactly what type of call is being made. This approach allows YouMail to determine the volume of each call to the YouMail user base. YouMail then extrapolates that behavior across the country as a whole.

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(TM), 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
YouMailPR@luminapr.com
646-791-9600

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SOURCE YouMail, Inc.