Robocall Research: Calls Rising, Texas Worst Hit

Share:

The summer heat isn’t the only thing with which Texans must deal. Data released today found that resident of the Lone Star State received 307.9 million robocalls in July. The total equates to 11 robocalls per person and was the most a state has received since recordkeeping began in June of 2015, according to YouMail — a company that offers to stop robocalls — which conducted the robocall research.

“Despite increased efforts by the FCC and wireless carriers to fight back, our national robocalling plague continues to afflict too many American consumers,” said CEO Alex Quilici in a press release.

Robocall Research

Overall, Americans received 2.59 billion robocalls in July, which is a 7.5 percent increase over July 2016 and 3 percent more than in June. YouMail found that 17.2 billion robocalls were made during the first seven months of the year. The numbers are startling and suggest that the problem is growing worse: 40 of the 50 most robocalled cities experienced a month-on-month increase. The July total equates to an average of 83.8 million calls daily, 3.5 million hourly and 58,000 per minute. Two percent of the country receives a robocall during every daytime hour.

Texas, which received the most robocalls for the 14th consecutive month, exceeded 300 million robocalls for the third time. Five Texas area codes made the top 20. Houston and Atlanta had three area codes in the list. Florida also had three and New York two. Big “gains” in robocalls in July were noted in Vermont (18 percent), Utah (16.4 percent), Oregon (14.9 percent), Idaho (11.6 percent) and New Hampshire (10.8 percent).

On the originating side, a credit card companies that was not identified was the worst robocall offender for the 23rd consecutive month. The most robocalls were originated in California (219.1 million), followed by Texas (178.4 million), Florida (150.7 million), New York (112.4 million) and Ohio (97.5 million).  Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas were the cities originating the most robocalls, according to YouMail.

In June, the FCC proposed a fine of $120 million against Miami resident Adrian Abramovich, who is accused of making 96 million illegal robocalls during a three month period. The fine would be levied under the Truth in Caller ID Act, which makes it a crime to falsify caller ID to disguise identity or defraud consumers or otherwise cause harm.