Is there anything more annoying about phones than the influx of robocalls that the United States has experienced over the past few years? What was once a minor annoyance has ballooned into a full-blown plague, and the disease has continued to spread uncontrollably for far too long. Between robocalls and unsolicited PR pitches, things have gotten to the point where I personally no longer answer my phone at all unless the caller is in my contact list. The PR pitches are annoying, sure, but it’s the robocalls that are truly infuriating.
US wireless carriers offer various tools in a half-assed effort to do something about the ever-rising volume of robocalls received by their customers. Unsurprisingly, those tools have done nothing at all to help the situation. In fact, things have only gotten worse. A new report from the YouMail Robocall Index reveals that robocalls haven’t just increased steadily in the US over the past few months, they’ve exploded to record highs. The report also reveals which wireless carriers get the most robocalls, and the carrier in the #1 spot couldn’t be anymore ironic.
That’s right ladies and gentlemen, AT&T subscribers receive more robocalls than subscribers on any other major US wireless network. Why is that ironic? As DSReports points out, AT&T was selected by the FCC last year to form a task force with the mission of fighting back against the influx of robocalls in the US. How is the carrier doing so far? AT&T subscribers get an average of 15.1 robocalls per month as of last month, March 2018. As an AT&T subscriber myself, that sky-high figure still seems low.
According to YouMail’s report, which is part of the company’s Robocall Index, T-Mobile was nipping at AT&T’s heels as the second worst carrier in March, with subscribers having received an average of 14.8 robocalls. Sprint was in the #3 spot with an average of 12.4 robocalls per subscriber, and Verizon rounded out the list with 11.8 robocalls per user in the month of March. Of note, robocall rates skyrocketed by double-digit percentages at all four wireless last month.
“There was a big surge in scam calls in March, with the top three financial scams estimated to reach a combined 276.4 million calls alone, up a full 33% from 207.4 million in February,” YouMail said in its report. “In addition, IRS-related scam calls nearly doubled in March from February, making it the 5th most common scam, and Home Security Scams were up over four times, leaping into 9th place.”
According to the firm, the top five most common types of robocalls in March 2018 were mortgage interest rate scams, credit card scams, student loan scams, business loan scams, and IRS scams. Now that tax day has come and gone, at least the IRS scam calls should be dialed back a bit.
