There was mixed news on the robocall front in July, according to YouMail.
The good news is that the 4.3 billion robocalls was a 4.3% decrease compared to July, 2023. The bad news was that it was a 4.1% increase compared to June, according to the latest robocall report from the firm that provides app-based call protection services for mobile phones.
On a second positive note, there were 29.8 billion robocalls during the first months of 2024. That was a 9% decrease from the 32.8 billion total through July 2023.
July averaged 138.6 million robocalls a day, which equates into 1,604 calls per second. That was 0.7 more than June’s average, which was 137.5 million robocalls per day and 1,592 per second.
“Robocall volume continues to be relatively flat and down 9% so far in 2024 versus 2023,” said YouMail CEO Alex Quilici about the latest robocall report. “The real question now is will they drop further as enforcement efforts continue?”
YouMail’s robocall report profiled four categories of calls:
- Notifications robocalls: 1.13 billion (3.3% increase compared to June; 26% percent of July calls, flat percentage of all robocalls)
- Payment reminder robocalls: 0.99 billion (+4.8%; 23%; flat).
- Telemarketing robocalls: 1.66 billion (+16.0%; 39%; +4%).
- Scam robocalls: 0.51 billion (-21.9%; 12%; -4%).
YouMail said that the most annoying call of the month related to a lawsuit. The second relates to an approval for a significant personal loan.
In June’s robocall report, calls were down 7.9% from May 2024 and 15.3% from June 2023. The total for the month was just over 4.1 billion robocalls, according to YouMail.
It may be that FCC pressure is having an impact. Early last month, the FCC has issued an initial determination order against Veriwave. The company is accused of originating spam tax robocalls that attempt to gain targets’ personal information under the guise of a “National Tax Relief” program. The “action moves the company one step closer to facing mandatory blocking” for spam tax robocalls, according to the FCC.
