Robocalls – Two out three times it rings
Bottom Line: By now we’ve nearly beaten the robocall topic to death. They’re awful, they’ve been getting worse, new FCC regs are aimed at helping by allowing service providers to block perceived robocallers before they get to you but who knows? Here’s what we do know. The latest info from the FCC shows that exactly two-thirds of all calls to US phone numbers are robocallers. That’s far and away the worst it’s ever been. As recently as five years ago it was about half and half. Today only one in three calls is a legitimate caller. And here’s what you should know during the summer months...
Recent history has shown that robocalls rise in June and July peaking in August. It’s not exactly known why but if it seems like you’ve just recently started to get more, this is probably the reason. While overall robocalling has been getting worse, it is worth nothing that part of the reason why there’s a growing gap between real callers and robocalls has to do with usage trends. With texting far-and-away being the most common way people communicate with mobile devices, there just aren’t as many calls being attempted by legit users. It’s kind of the mailbox effect. Prior to digital communication, sending letters and communicating through mail was common for non-solicitation purposes. As more people stopped communicating through traditional mail, most of the mail became solicitation and what we consider “junk”. There’s a similar effect with phone calls. In terms of the robocalling categories that are most common...
Top 5 robocalls:
- Computer or tech support
- Vacations & timeshares
- Impostors
- Medical
- Debt reduction
Be mindful and remember never to provide personal information to someone you didn’t initiate the call with in the first place.