We at YouMail wanted to get a handle on just how big a problem spam phone calls are.  So we did a public survey of  200+ mobile phone users in the U.S. from April 6-8, 2015.  Here are the most striking findings:

  • Most people still get spam calls.   74% said they receive spam calls several times per month, and 35% of those surveyed said they receive spam calls every day or even more than once per day.
  • Dealing with spam calls and voicemails takes time.   60% of those surveyed said they spend at least some time each month dealing with telephone spam.   6% of respondents estimated that they spend over one full hour each month dealing with the problem.
  • Time is wasted dealing with messages and trying to block repeat callers.   52% cited the most troublesome spam problem as “wasting valuable time due to checking and deleting irrelevant voice messages”and 27% said it was  “tracking down and/or blocking offending numbers that call back repeatedly.”
  • It’s not just a mobile phone problem.   While 32% cited “getting spam calls on my mobile phone” as their greatest source of annoyance, 39% cited getting spam calls everywhere (mobile phones, office phones, home phones) as their greatest annoyance.
  • There’s no good way to deal with the problem.  69% said they currently have no good way to deal with spam calls other than to “hang up or delete the message and move on.”   43% said their top issue is no good way to differentiate incoming spam calls from regular calls.  25% said the top spamming issue is frustration due to repeatedly receiving the same spam calls over and over.
  • The Do Not Call List hasn’t solved the problem.  52% deemed the federal Do Not Call Registry Act as “mostly ineffective” or “practically useless” in preventing spam calling. Furthermore, a combined 77% also said the government should “put stronger penalties and some real ‘teeth’ into the Do Not Call Act.” or “enact new regulations that ban the ability to send spam calls and messages” altogether.
  • People want apps to solve the problem.  71% of respondents would prefer to deal with spam calls by adopting “software apps that can automatically identify and block spam calls.