NEW YORK, Sept. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Robocalls increased by 5% in August to 5.4 billion, a reversal from recent month-over-month decreases, according to Robokiller Insights. Robocalls related to financial services, debt collection, medical scams, and loans flooded Americans’ phones. With student loan repayments resuming in October, these calls are likely to persist.
Despite FCC wins, robocalls rebound
In late 2022 and early 2023, the FCC took action against well-known robocalls related to car warranties, student loans, and mortgages, reducing the impact of these pervasive scams. However, spam calls may be on the rise again due to scammers’ malleability — the result could be a robocall rebound as 2023 comes to a close.
“After the FCC’s success in taking down infamous robocalls, scammers are getting smarter,” said Giulia Porter, Vice President at Robokiller. “With student loan repayments resuming in October and the holiday shopping season right around the corner, Americans should be aware of scams impersonating well-known brands or too-good-to-be-true debt relief offers. We recommend installing a robocall blocking app like Robokiller on your phone to protect you from these scams.”
The end of summer caused scammers to up their efforts
Bottom line: there’s much work to be done. The overall scale of the spam problem remains staggering. Even with a 4% decrease in robotexts, Americans still received 11.3 billion robotexts in August.
Losses to robocalls and robotexts on track to exceed 2022 losses
The robocalls and robotexts targeting Americans proved to work, as Americans lost $9.2 billion to phone scams in August alone. Scammers are on pace to steal in excess of last year’s record $85 billion.
How to stop phone scams
At Robokiller, our mission is to create a world without spam. In addition to downloading the Robokiller app, follow these tips to protect yourself against spam texts and spam calls.
Additionally, if your brand is interested in protecting against scams perpetrated under its name, contact our enterprise service team.
About Robokiller
With more than 12 million downloads and $740 million in losses prevented, Robokiller is the leading independent spam call and text blocker. Robokiller has been named a technical and mobile achievement leader by the Webby Awards, Media Excellence, Best in Biz, and more. Robokiller was named the most effective solution to robocalls by the FTC.
Robokiller’s award-winning robocall and spam text insights are powered by a global database of millions of phone scams and audio fingerprints. Robokiller’s proprietary data insights have been featured by The New York Times, ABC World News, Good Morning America, and many others.
Robokiller is available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play. To learn more, visit www.robokiller.com. Robokiller, a Teltech brand, is a division of Mosaic Group, an IAC Company (NASDAQ: IAC).
SOURCE Robokiller
