Scam Robocall Problem Surges Over 60% In 2018
IRVINE, Calif., June 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- YouMail, the provider of free robocall blocking software and the YouMail Robocall Index(TM), has announced a detailed analysis of the scam calls made out of the nearly 4.1 billion robocalls received in the U.S. in May. The analysis estimates that U.S. consumers are receiving well over 1 billion scam calls each month, and that the volume of scam calls continues to increase.
Scams Calls Are Accelerating Dramatically
While estimated robocalls have grown approximately 40% since January and over 28% since March, scam robocalls have grown at an ever-faster pace--over 62% since January and nearly 32% since March. In fact, scam robocalls are now estimated to make up 29% of all robocalls made in the U.S.
Month in 2018 Estimated Estimated % of Calls That Are
Scams
Scam Call Volume
Robocall Volume
--- ---------------
January 2.88b 720m 25%
------- ----- ---- ---
February 2.75b 660m 24%
-------- ----- ---- ---
March 3.15b 910m 29%
----- ----- ---- ---
April 3.36b 970m 29%
----- ----- ---- ---
May 4.06b 1.2b 29%
--- ----- ---- ---
The call volumes in May translate to nearly 38 million scam robocalls being made to U.S. phone numbers each day, or roughly 436 scam calls per second.
Top Scams in May
The top scams by frequency continue to be financial in nature, designed to trick consumers into giving out their personal information, such as their credit card numbers or Social Security numbers. Below are the Top 10 scam categories from May, their estimated volumes, and a comparison to March.
May Scam Type May Increase Scam Type
Rank Estimated Since
Volume
March
--- -----
1 Interest Rate Scam 175.1m 43% "0% interest rates"
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2
(+1) Student Loan Scams 87.6m 23% "Forgive/ Lower Student Debt"
----- ------------------ ----- --- -----------------------------
3
(+4) Travel Scams 70.8m 162% "Free/ Discount Trip"
----- ------------ ----- --- ---------------------
4 Credit Card Scams 68.5m -17% "Problem with your credit card"
--- ----------------- ----- --- -------------------------------
5 Tax/IRS Scams 58.6m 35% "Owe money to the IRS"
--- ------------- ----- --- ----------------------
6
(+3) Home Security Scams 52.4m 101% "Free service/ installation"
----- ------------------- ----- --- ----------------------------
7
(-1) Search Listing Scams 50.9m 64% "Listing has a problem"
----- -------------------- ----- --- -----------------------
8
(-4) Business Loan Scams 36.5m -32% "Preapproved for business loan"
----- ------------------- ----- --- -------------------------------
9
(+3) Easy Money Scams 34.3m 115% "Various schemes"
----- ---------------- ----- --- -----------------
10
(+3) Warranty Scams 30.0m 118% "Warranty expired offers"
----- -------------- ----- --- -------------------------
Travel scams have increased the most in the past two months by an astonishing 162%. This increase comes despite recent enforcement actions from the government against one of the worst offenders. In addition, home security and home/car warranty scams, and generic easy money scams, have all increased over 100% in that two-month time period. Interest rate scams continue to rapidly increase in volume, topping 175 million calls in May.
How This Analysis Was Done
To generate this detailed look at scam robocalls 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.
