At YouMail, we put out the YouMail Robocall Index. which is a monthly estimate of robocall volumes. The estimate for January 2018 shows that the robocall problem is getting worse. There were nearly 2.9 billion robocalls, which is full 27% more robocalls than the previous January.
That naturally brings up a question: exactly what are all these calls trying to accomplish?
We decided to try to answer that question, and today put out the first ever detailed analysis of all those robocalls. One thing we discovered was the relative volumes of different types of robocalls. That is, roughly:
- 25% of robocalls are clearly scams, and not wanted by anyone.
- 15% are telemarketing, so the do not call list actually worked to reduce the volume of telemarketing calls.
- 33% are payment reminders or debt collectors.
- 27% are alerts or reminders, and are usually calls that people wanted.
What does this mean?
Well, it shows that simply blocking every single robocall just won’t cut it. There are plenty of robocalls that are actually valuable. After all, you want that call that your prescription has arrived. And you don’t want to miss the reminder that your new dishwasher is being installed tomorrow. However, right now those wanted calls are being completely swamped by unwanted calls.
It’ll be very interesting to see how this mix changes over time, as more and more people use YouMail as their robocall blocker, and we learn more and more about the types of robocalls people do and don’t want.
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- Robocall Scam of the Week: Utilities Scam Exploiting the US Energy Brand
- Robocall Spam of the Week: SBA Loan Repayment Spam Call
Thanks for the information. I have Also found that Anything on FB or Instagram you are involved in Also can lead to more Scam calls. I have been getting 3-7 per days on my phone!! ( I Do Not have an Apple phone btw)
That’s definitely possible! Scammers get there information from all kinds of places, so consumers should be careful of any place they give out their private information.
There is the option of registering your number on the “Do Not Call” list, but that doesn’t always work. You need a more reliable solution. That’s where YouMail Smart Blocking comes in. Smart blocking detects call patterns to identify robocallers and plays them a ‘number disconnected’ greeting when they call your phone.
You’re exactly right!
The “Number Out of Service” greeting gets those robocallers to take your number off their list once and for all, leading to less robocalls to you in the future!
It’s time for everybody to strike back do this Colbert number constantly for an hour or so don’t say anything when they hang up call them again when they hang up call them again don’t say anything when they hang up call them again everyone start doing this believe me robocalls will. Stop pass it on Time to Kill robocalls call them back don’t say anything when they hang up call again if they call you answer and don’t say nothing
There is power in numbers it is time to use our power we have the numbers keep calling them don’t say anything when they hang up call them again