In the U.S., consumers received more than 4.6 billion robocalls in October, and Dallas was among the top three metropolitan cities where the most calls were made.
According to an index created by robocall blocking app YouMail, consumers in Dallas were on the receiving end of almost 174.7 million robocalls in October, 17% surge, trailing only behind Atlanta’s 181 million.
Dallas’ 214 area code received the third-most amount of calls when divided by area code, behind Atlanta’s 404 and Houston’s 832.
Texas received the most robocalls among the states, with 583.1 million, an 18% uptick.
Countrywide numbers rose, YouMail reported. The company’s CEO, Alex Quilici, said in a prepared statement that the company doesn’t know whether those numbers represent a trend after calls from telemarketers were down 7.9% the previous month.
On average, consumers received 148.7 million robocalls every day in October, up from 142.4 million in September, figures provided by California-based YouMail indicate.
The most “unwanted robocalls” consumers received in October involved a police association scam, in which intended victims are asked to make tax-deductible donations to an organization that does not exist. Telemarketing calls increased 28% in the same month, and that is most attributable to Medicare and health insurance, according to YouMail.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation compiles the most common scams and crimes on its website. Those include schemes involving adoptions, investments, compromised business emails, disasters, romance, and skimming. During the holiday season, scammers tend to be more active, according to the FBI.
“Non-payment and non-delivery scams cost people more than $281 million that year,” according to the FBI’s website, citing a 2022 report from the Internet Crime Complaint Center. “Credit card fraud accounted for another $264 million in losses. The IC3 receives a large volume of complaints in the early months of each year, suggesting a correlation with the previous holiday season’s shopping scams.”
