NATIONAL NEWS

Americans Are Getting Fewer Robocalls Because Of The Pandemic

May 5, 2020, 1:43 PM | Updated: 7:15 pm

(CNN) — One of the biggest consumer headaches has eased up at least in part due to the pandemic.

Americans experienced a drop in the amount of robocalls flooding their phones in April, helped by international call centers being shut down during the global pandemic and government efforts to stop COVID-19-related scams.

The number of robocalls made to U.S. phone numbers last month was the lowest in two years, according to new data provided to CNN Business from YouMail, a robocall-prevention service that tracks robocall traffic across the country. This includes both scam and legitimate calls, such as payment reminders from banks.

YouMail said Americans received about 2.86 billion calls in April, a 30% drop from the month before and down 40% from February. At their peak in October 2019, about 5.66 billion robocalls were placed to the U.S. in a one-month period.

The decline coincides with the shuttering of call centers in countries such as India, Pakistan and the Philippines, where workers who are placing unwanted robocalls don’t own laptops to support working from home and some have lost their jobs or been furloughed.

“Call centers are closed or running at much lower capacity due to social distancing around the world,” said Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail. “There’s no point to robocall people if there’s no one there on the other end [to field it] when someone ‘presses 1’ or returns a call.”

According to the most recent data compiled by YouMail, Americans received about 58.5 billion robocalls in 2019.

Hiya, a service that provides profile information to some telecom companies to help consumers identify incoming calls and block unwanted ones, has also seen a decrease in fraud calls in recent months.

“Given the timing, it’s likely primarily due to the COVID-19 crisis as, much like every industry, phone scam operations have certainly been disrupted by lockdowns and stay-at-home orders over recent weeks,” said Hiya COO Kush Parikh. But he also attributed the dip to government actions.

Last month, the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission sent letters to gateway service providers — the first carriers in the US that take in international traffic and put it on the country’s telephone network  demanding they stop coronavirus-related scam robocalls from targeting American consumers. Scammers have implemented new tactics related to the pandemic, such as ones that target victims’ stimulus checks and unemployment benefits, or offering fake COVID-19 tests.

In partnership with the government, the USTelecom’s Industry Traceback Group has seen success in cutting off these types of scams by tracing calls to the source and keeping illegal calls off U.S. networks in the first place, according to the group.

“These providers could face civil and criminal penalties, including fraud,” said Patrick Halley, senior VP of policy and advocacy for USTelecom. “That level of enforcement makes people double check who they are doing business with and if they should put it on the network.”

The FCC’s effort to crack down on scam calls has been a years-long battle, but the telecom industry is working on a tool called Stir/Shaken to identify and trace unwanted robocall efforts. The initiatives are still underway, but Halley believes the push to curb COVID-19-related scams has played a key role in the latest dip.

“A few factors are at play, including the shutting down of call centers, but the FCC and FTC have been very publicly, actively and aggressively addressing any scams related to the coronavirus, and it’s really working,” he said.

While the overall number of robocalls is going down, the number of legitimate robocalls from government officials, hospitals and schools is on the rise with information for the public. Hiya is among the organizations working to register emergency numbers and label calls from testing centers to show up as “Covid-19 Test Results” on users’ phones. The company says the efforts “have seen drastic improvements in pick-up rates.”

But the decline in unwanted robocalls likely won’t last. “Phone scammers have shown resiliency over the years and constantly change their tactics to find new ways to exploit the public,” Parikh said. “They will likely bounce back from the disruption caused by the COVID-19 crisis.”

YouMail said it already saw an uptick toward the end of April, indicating Americans could receive more in May as global call centers come back online. But many have not yet reopened.

“Robocalls are going to come back steadily as more and more people get back online and social distancing slows down,” said Quilici. However, he doesn’t think they’ll return to the high levels experienced in October 2019, citing more mitigation efforts from the government.

“But my guess is that we return to the 4.5 – 5 billion level before the summer is out,” he added.

KSL 5 TV Live

Top Stories

National News

Ron DeSantis...
Bridger Beal-Cvetko, KSL.com

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to headline Utah GOP convention

Utah Republican delegates will hear from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during the party's organizing convention next month.
15 hours ago
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber attends the Clive Davis and Recording Academy Pre-GRAMMY Gala and GRAM...
Associated Press

Nicholas Lloyd Webber, son of famed composer, dies at 43

Nicholas Lloyd Webber, the Grammy-nominated composer, record producer and eldest son of Andrew Lloyd Webber, died Saturday in England.
15 hours ago
Scammer holds smartphone, cracks two-factor authentication, steals money online...
Sean Lyngaas

US bans government agencies from using spyware ‘operationally’ as national security concerns grow

President Biden on Monday issued an executive order banning US government agencies from using invasive commercial hacking tools.
15 hours ago
A gunman carried out an "active shooter event" at the Covenant School, a private Christian elementa...
Jonathan Mattise and Travis Loller

3 children, 3 adults killed at Christian school in Nashville

A person carried out an "active shooter event" at the Covenant School, a private Christian elementary school in Nashville.
15 hours ago
Seven are dead after an explosion at a candy factory in West Reading, officials say. (WPVI via CNN)...
Associated Press

All 7 Pennsylvania chocolate factory explosion victims found

All seven bodies have been recovered from the site of a powerful explosion at a chocolate factory in a small town in eastern Pennsylvania, officials said.
15 hours ago
Four dead, several injured, others unaccounted for after an explosion at a candy factory in West Re...
Sara Smart, Samantha Beech, Zoe Sottile and Dakin Andone

Pennsylvania candy factory explosion death toll climbs to 4, hope of finding survivors wanes

A fourth person has been confirmed dead in an explosion at an eastern Pennsylvania candy factory.
2 days ago

Sponsored Articles

Stack of old laptops with dark background...
PC Laptops

Old Laptop Upgrades You Need to Try Before Throwing it Away

Get the most out of your investment. Try these old laptop upgrades before throwing it out to keep it running fast and efficient.
Happy diverse college or university students are having fun on their graduation day...
BYU MBA at the Marriott School of Business

How to Choose What MBA Program is Right for You: Take this Quiz Before You Apply!

Wondering what MBA program is right for you? Take this quiz before you apply to see if it will help you meet your goals.
Close up of an offset printing machine during production...
Les Olson IT

Top 7 Reasons to Add a Production Printer to Your Business

Learn about the different digital production printers and how they can help your company save time and money.
vintage photo of lighting showroom featuring chandeliers, lamps, wall lights and mirrors...
Lighting Design

History of Lighting Design | Over 25 Years of Providing Utah With the Latest Trends and Styles

Read about the history of Lighting Design, a family-owned and operated business that paved the way for the lighting industry in Utah.
Fiber Optical cables connected to an optic ports and Network cables connected to ethernet ports...
Brian Huston, CE and Anthony Perkins, BICSI

Why Every Business Needs a Structured Cabling System

A structured cabling system benefits businesses by giving you faster processing speeds and making your network more efficient and reliable.
notebook with password notes highlighted...
PC Laptops

How to Create Strong Passwords You Can Actually Remember

Learn how you can create strong passwords that are actually easy to remember! In a short time you can create new ones in seconds.
Americans Are Getting Fewer Robocalls Because Of The Pandemic