New Analysis Shows iPhone Users Get Far More Robocalls Than Android Users
New Analysis Shows iPhone Users Get Far More Robocalls Than Android Users
Study by YouMail Reveals Robocall Disparity on Mobile Phones in March
IRVINE, Calif., April 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- YouMail, the provider of free robocall blocking software and the YouMail Robocall Index(TM), has released a detailed analysis of the over 3.1 billion robocalls made in the U.S. in March, showing that iPhone users get significantly more robocalls than Android users. YouMail's analysis includes a breakdown of robocall volumes by handset manufacturers, major carriers, types of robocalls, and types of robocall scams.
Robocall Volume by Handset Maker
YouMail has conducted a first-ever analysis to understand whether the amount and types of robocalls received differ depending on mobile operating systems. YouMail's data shows that iPhone users received 29% more robocalls than Android users. Below is the breakdown by robocall type for iPhone vs. Android:
Robocall Type iPhone Volume vs.
Android
------------- -----------------
Scam +22%
---- ---
Telemarketing +25%
------------- ---
Payment Reminders +32%
----------------- ---
Alerts and Reminders +37%
-------------------- ---
OVERALL +29%
------- ---
While user generally view alerts and reminders as "wanted", telemarketing and scam robocalls are less desirable, which means that iPhone users are getting significantly more unwanted calls than Android users.
The differences in robocall volume can be attributed in part to the underlying difficulty that call blocking apps have running on iPhone, which leads to far more robocalls. A detailed discussion can be found at https://blog.youmail.com/2018/04/why-apple-iphones-are-robocall-magnets/.
Robocall Volume by Carriers
YouMail has followed up on its February analysis of how one wireless carrier may differ from another in terms of robocall volumes. Among the major carriers, AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile users get significantly more robocalls than Sprint and Verizon users. Sprint users saw the biggest increase in robocalls, over 20% in March.
Observed Robocalls Per User by Wireless Carrier for March
Carrier March Robocalls/User Change from February
------- -------------------- --------------------
AT&T Wireless 15.1 +14%
------------- ---- ---
T-Mobile 14.8 +10%
-------- ---- ---
Sprint 12.4 +21%
------ ---- ---
Verizon 11.8 +13%
------- ---- ---
Blue Wireless 3.6 +20%
------------- --- ---
YouMail's data continues to show that if carriers implement a call blocking solution on their networks, their users will get roughly one-fourth the number of robocalls compared to other carriers.
Types of Robocalls
YouMail's analysis shows that there was a 40% jump in the number of calls that were scams or telemarketing calls. Scams and telemarketing calls made up nearly half of all robocalls placed in March.
Estimated National Robocalls By Type
Category January February March
-------- ------- -------- -----
Alerts and Reminders 27% 28% 20%
-------------------- --- --- ---
Payment Reminders 33% 32% 31%
----------------- --- --- ---
Telemarketing 15% 16% 20%
------------- --- --- ---
Scams 25% 24% 29%
----- --- --- ---
YouMail also calculated the relative breakdown of robocalls received by users of each wireless carrier, and how these numbers differed from the previous month. There was no notable difference in the types of robocalls between carriers, other than Verizon users appeared to get 10% to 15% more scam calls than users on other carriers.
Breakdown of Robocall Types By Wireless Carrier for March
Category AT&T Verizon Sprint T-Mobile
-------- ---- ------- ------ --------
Alerts and
Reminders 19% (-9) 18% (-8) 22% (-8) 21% (-10)
---------- ------- ------- ------- --------
Payment Reminders 31% (-1) 30% (-1) 31% (-2) 33%
----------------- ------- ------- ------- ---
Telemarketing 22% (+5) 21% (+5) 20% (+5) 19% (+4)
------------- ------- ------- ------- -------
Scams 28% (+5) 31% (+4) 27% (+5) 27% (+6)
----- ------- ------- ------- -------
Top Scams in March
The top scams by frequency continue to be mostly financial in nature, designed to trick consumers into giving out personal information like credit card numbers or Social Security numbers. Below are the Top 10 scam categories from March, their estimated volumes, and a comparison to the previous month.
March Scam Type March February Scam Type
Rank Estimated Estimated
Volume Volume
--- ------ ------
1 Interest Rate Scam 122.9m 81.7m "0% interest rates"
--- ------------------ ------ ----- -------------------
2 Credit Card Issues 82.5m 69.0m "Problem with your credit card"
--- ------------------ ----- ----- -------------------------------
3 Student Loan Scams 71.0m 56.7m "Forgive/lower student debt"
--- ------------------ ----- ----- ----------------------------
4 Business Loan Scams 53.4m 38.4m "Preapproved for business loan"
--- ------------------- ----- ----- -------------------------------
5 (+3) IRS Scams 43.4m 22.5m "Owe money to the IRS"
----- --------- ----- ----- ----------------------
6 Search Listing Scams 31.0m 26.2m "Listing has a problem"
--- -------------------- ----- ----- -----------------------
7 Travel Scams 27.0m 28.0m "Free/discount trip"
--- ------------ ----- ----- --------------------
8 (-3) Preapproved Loan Scams 26.2m 22.2m "Ready to wire - just need info"
----- ---------------------- ----- ----- --------------------------------
9 (+10) Home Security Scams 26.1m 5.4m "Free service/installation"
------ ------------------- ----- ---- ---------------------------
10 (-1) Utility Scams 19.2m 17.7m "Save money - need your info"
------ ------------- ----- ----- -----------------------------
There was a big surge in scam calls in March, with the top three financial scams estimated to reach a combined 276.4 million calls alone, up a full 33% from 207.4 million in February. In addition, IRS-related scam calls nearly doubled in March from February, making it the 5(th) most common scam, and Home Security Scams were up over four times, leaping into 9(th) place.
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.
