NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Robotexts increased by 37% but robocalls dropped by 25% in December, more proof that scammers believe SMS is the best way to target consumers, especially around the holidays.
Holiday shopping season is prime time for scammers
As the year comes to a close, scammers tend to capitalize on timely trends like delivery messages, which increased by 6% from November. Spammers like to take advantage of the fact people are expecting deliveries and trick them into clicking fraudulent links. These scams may look like they're from well-known delivery companies when they're really scams.
Robocalls drop to 3 billion
Robocalls hovered around 5 billion for most of 2023, but in December Robokiller identified a 25% decrease. Though Robokiller usually sees a downward trend in December, this is the largest decline to date. Even so, losses continue to climb. Scammers are using tactics like bank scams and debt collector scams to steal money.
Coming soon: 2023 year in review
Be on the lookout for Robokiller's end-of-year phone scam report. Click here and here to read our previous reports.
December key trends
Top robotexts nationwide:
Robotext Category
| Estimated Robotexts
|
Delivery (Amazon, USPS, UPS)
| 1,097,877,669
|
Bank
| 246,496,468
|
Apple + hardware
| 118,869,044
|
Travel
| 113,708,878
|
Top robotext states per capita:
State
| Estimated robotexts
| Estimated robotexts per person
|
Oklahoma
| 424,284,554
| 123
|
Washington, D.C.
| 93,421,487
| 115
|
Louisiana
| 410,007,617
| 94
|
Mississippi
| 260,786,207
| 90
|
Top robocalls nationwide:
Robocall category
| Estimated robocalls
|
Debt Collector
| 83,622,391
|
Loan
| 63,887,507
|
Medical
| 63,553,017
|
Bank
| 48,500,987
|
Top robocall states per capita:
State
| Estimated robocalls
| Estimated robocalls per person
|
Texas
| 241,829,134
| 10
|
Oklahoma
| 32,976,231
| 10
|
South Carolina
| 37,810,001
| 9
|
Georgia
| 78,080,037
| 9
|
How to stop phone scams
At Robokiller, it's our mission 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.
Further protect yourself against scams with Robokiller's new personal data protection feature, which allows consumers to remove their information from data broker sites that scammers rely on to find targets. Robokiller's personal data protection is included in its Premium+ subscription tier or can be purchased as a standalone one-time purchase.
About Robokiller
Trusted by more than 12 million people, Robokiller is the award-winning spam call and text blocker app that blocks 99% of dangerous phone scams. Winner of the FTC's Robocalls Against Humanity competition, Robokiller uses AI and machine learning to identify and block any incoming spam call or text within 0.01 seconds of it reaching a users' phone – all before they ever see it. To date, Robokiller has blocked over 1 billion phone scams and prevented over $740 million in consumer losses.
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).
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SOURCE Robokiller
