NEW YORK, April 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- RoboKiller, the app
that helps eliminate spam calls and text messages, reveals
Americans received a staggering 7.4 billion spam text messages in
March - a 37% increase from February
2021. Spam calls were no different, hitting a record 6.3
billion in March 2021 and surpassing
October 2020's previous high of 6.1 billion.
March's record-breaking totals mark a key inflection point in
the fight against phone scams. With more Americans now wary of
answering phone calls from unknown numbers, recent trends show that
scammers are relying more heavily on the use of text messages as
their weapon of choice to steal from more Americans over the
phone.
The rise in spam calls and texts is not unexpected. In mid-2020,
RoboKiller anticipated spam calls and text messages could return to
normal levels or beyond as COVID-19 related hindrances to spammers'
phone scam operations, especially quarantine orders, were lifted.
Spammers typically thrive during times of uncertainty and economic
stress because it can be easier for the more vulnerable to fall
victim to their scams.
MARCH 2021 KEY
FINDINGS
Spam Text Messages Make Their Presence Known
Spam text messages continue to grow month over month, reaching
record levels at 7.4 billion in March. The previous record was only
two months ago, in January 2021, with
6 billion spam text messages, showing that spam text messages are
rapidly on the rise and show no signs of slowing down.
Top Five Most Spam-Texted States Per Capita:
State
|
Total Estimated
Spam Text Messages
|
Estimated Spam
Texts Per Person
|
Texas
|
852,572,855
|
36
|
Georgia
|
284,349,854
|
32
|
Illinois
|
301,190,677
|
28
|
California
|
735,978,807
|
22
|
Florida
|
394,403,427
|
22
|
Spam Calls Reach New Record Levels, Too
Recent trends indicate spam calls will increase drastically in
2021 as scammers attempt to recover from the impact COVID-19 had on
their operations. Monthly spam call totals in the United States have increased by an average
of roughly 10% each month starting in June
2020.
March exceeded February's 5.6 billion by 12%, proving that
scammers mean business in 2021, and any American who owns a
smartphone should be prepared for a flood of unwanted calls.
Top Phone Scams:
In March, the top phone scam was
vehicle warranty-related at 17% of total spam calls, followed by
health insurance-related calls at 8% and vacation-related scams at
6%.
Top Five Most Spam-Called States Per Capita:
State
|
Total Estimated
Spam Calls
|
Estimated Spam
Calls Per Person
|
Texas
|
801,654,873
|
33
|
Georgia
|
269,255,878
|
30
|
Ohio
|
295,768,288
|
30
|
North
Carolina
|
241,636,088
|
27
|
Florida
|
467,513,366
|
26
|
Spam Text Message Explosion: What's The
Impact?
According to the FTC, in 2020, 2.2 million Americans
reported losses totaling $3.3 billion
to digital fraud - a whopping 73% increase from 2019's $1.9 billion. Of those 2020 fraud reports, 27%
said the contact method was a text message, while 31% reported the
contact method was a phone call, showing spam text messages are
just as large of a problem as spam calls, if not larger.. As these
scams reach record-breaking levels and economic stress from the
COVID-19 pandemic grows, it's likely total consumer losses to phone
fraud will continue to worsen in 2021.
What Is Being Done To Stop Robocalls?
Recently
the FCC fined two Texas-based
telemarketing companies $255 million
for making automated robocalls in 2019. This is the largest fine to
date and part of an expanded effort to stop automated robocalls.
Since the FCC announcement, RoboKiller has noticed a slight dip in
health insurance-related spam calls but anticipates this drop could
be temporary.
In addition, The Pallone-Thune TRACED Act was signed into law in
2019 to help protect consumers from spam calls. One important
requirement for this law is that voice service providers (VoIP)
must implement STIR/SHAKEN, which uses digital certificates to
authenticate calls, determine their legitimacy, and inform use
cases such as labeling potential spam calls as "scam likely." Most
larger phone carriers will be required to enact STIR/SHAKEN by
June 2021 in an attempt to restrict
caller ID spoofing. Smaller phone carriers have exemptions lasting
until 2023 and, in some cases, beyond.
Tips on How to Stop Phone Scams:
- Don't answer phone calls from unknown phone numbers, especially
those that call or text at odd hours.
- Never provide personal, banking, or sensitive information over
the phone to any caller.
- Don't follow any prompts like "Press 1" or click any
links.
- Download a spam call and text blocker like RoboKiller to
equip your phone with the latest phone-scam-fighting technology.
Apps like RoboKiller use global databases of millions of known
scams to prevent them from reaching you in the first place.
RoboKiller's Data Insights
These national robocall
and spam text insights are provided by RoboKiller, the only app
that eliminates 99% of spam calls in the
United States. RoboKiller's Robocall Insights is powered by
its global database of millions of known phone scams and audio
fingerprints. This data is estimated by monitoring observed
robocall and spam text trends for Americans who have trusted
RoboKiller to stop their spam calls and has been featured by major
media publications since its release in 2018.
For a comprehensive analysis of robocall trends in specific
cities, states, and area codes, details on particular phone scams,
or any other related custom inquiries, please contact RoboKiller's
robocall insights team here or at pr@robokiller.com.
With more than 12 million downloads to date, RoboKiller has been
named a leader in technical and mobile achievement by the Webby
Awards, Media Excellence, Best in Business, and more. RoboKiller
was also named the most effective solution to robocalls by the
FTC as the winner of the most recent Robocalls: Humanity
Strikes Back competition. RoboKiller is available for download on
the Apple App Store and Google Play. To learn more about
RoboKiller, visit www.robokiller.com.
About RoboKiller:
RoboKiller is the leading
independent spam call blocker in the
United States. RoboKiller's predictive spam call blocking
technology uses A.I. and machine-learning to intercept an incoming
spam call in less than 0.01 second. RoboKiller then deploys its
army of spam-call-fighting Answer Bots to waste scammers' time and
resources, preventing them from placing thousands of spam calls
each minute. Since its launch in 2017, RoboKiller has helped more
than 10 million Americans prevent approximately $140M losses to phone scams and live their lives
spam-call-free™. RoboKiller, a Teltech brand, is a division of
Mosaic Group, an IAC Company (NASDAQ: IAC).
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SOURCE RoboKiller