American consumers and business owners were blasted by an estimated 2.3 billion robocalls in January, a 3% decrease over the total calls received in December but a slight increase over the same month last year. These estimates are based on the YouMail Robocall Index (https://robocallindex.com), a guide that compiles the scope and location of the worst robocalling hotspots across the country by area code.
January marked the fifth straight month that the nation’s robocall volume has fallen slightly month-over-month. The country’s monthly robocalling total has dropped by 14.4% over the past half-year since August 2016 – a potential sign that the robocalling trend may be stabilizing due to a growing consumer backlash and the adoption of more robo-blocking services.
YouMail provides iPhone and Android apps that serve as an automated virtual assistant to replace the mobile voicemail service of its users. The YouMail service has answered billions of calls for its users, providing a wealth of data on the bad behavior of robocallers. YouMail uses algorithms to detect any automatically dialed calls, blocks them by playing an “out of service” message, and then aggregates that calling data to create the YouMail Robocall Index.
“YouMail is encouraged that overall robocalling volumes seem to be stabilizing due to growing public awareness of robo-blocking solutions, but our country is still grappling with billions and billions of automated calls every month of the year,” said Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail. “2.3 billion robocalls in a month means 73 million robocalls per day, or 845 robocalls placed every second. Regulators, carriers and software makers all need to step up by implementing stronger protections for the American people.”