Americans Received A Record 5.7 Billion Robocalls In October
For part of the year, it seemed like robocalls might finally be on the decline. Then October happened. According to telecommunications services company YouMail, October was the worst month on record for robocalls. Americans were on the receiving end of a record-setting 5.7 billion spam calls over the course of the month. That’s 182 million calls per day or about 2,115 calls received by Americans every second.
October managed to surpass March 2019 as the worst to date when it comes to robocalls. Seven percent more unwanted dials were placed in October than the 5.2 billion received in March. The uptick also marked a massive jump in calls from previous months. There was a whopping 25 percent increase in robocalls from the 4.5 billion placed in September. It’s the largest jump in the calls in over a year and brings total number of robocalls placed in 2019 to 49 billion. More robocalls have been placed in the first 10 months of 2019 than were placed in all of 2018.
The most common types of robocalls in October.
“Here we go again – October’s record robocall volume reminds us there’s a long way to go before the robocall problem is solved,” YouMail CEO Alex Quilici said in a statement. “It’s hard to imagine, but we are still on pace to wind up with nearly 60 billion calls to U.S. consumers this year.”
The spike in robocalls was driven largely by an increase in scam calls. There were 32 percent more scam calls placed during the month than came in September. Health-related scams saw the biggest jump with a 29 percent increase, while interest rate scams were up 13 percent over the previous month. Health insurance scams may have been on the rise because the Healthcare Marketplace established by the Affordable Care Act was set to enter the open enrollment on November 1.
The most common types of scam robocalls made in October.
According to YouMail, Atlanta, Georgia has the distinct displeasure of being the most robocalled city in the entire country, receiving a total of 221 million calls over the course of October. Washington, D.C. had the most robocalls per person, with each resident of the city receiving an average of 57.4 robocalls during the month. Texas was the state with the most robocalls, receiving a total of 636 million, while Louisiana was the state with the most robocalls per person at 35.1 calls in October.
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