Wilmington, Delaware — CPR Call Blocker reports the top robocall complaints in mid-2022 and how they affected the US community based on RoboKiller’s 2022 Mid-Year Phone Scam Report.
The 2022 Mid-Year Phone Scam results indicate that Americans are on track to receive an estimated 86 billion robocalls by the end of the year, which would be a 19% increase above the respective totals for 2021. In addition, Americans are projected to lose $87 billion to phone scammers, a rise of 116% since 2021.
According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the top five robocall complaints in 2021 are auto warrant scam calls, lawsuits or criminal charges scam calls, credit card scam calls, insurance or healthcare scam calls, and social security number or phishing scam calls.
However, this mid-2022, RoboKiller’s report suggests a slight change for the top robocalls. Auto warranty scam call is still on top 1, followed by health insurance scam calls, pharmacy robocalls, insurance scam calls, medical scam calls, and student loan scams.
1. Auto Warranty Robocalls
The auto warranty scam will be the top scam call in 2022. It has been one of the leading consumer complaints to the FCC for a long time.
These robocalls offer you to renew your car warranty or insurance policy. They may have obtained information on your car and its current warranty. They provide to appear more believable and frequently include precise information about your vehicle and warranties, making the call appear more authentic.
2. Health Insurance Robocalls
Scammers call offering reduced bogus health care coverage. Spoofing is occasionally used to impersonate government authorities or insurance firms. Frequently, they sell medical discount cards that are ultimately not accepted anyplace. Although fraudulent solicitations occur throughout the year, be especially careful during open enrollment.
3. Pharmacy Scam Calls
Calls from a fraudulent pharmacy claim to represent Community and offer free vitamins and medications in exchange for completing a health survey. These callers may appear authentic because they are familiar with your identity or you are a Community Health Choice member. They may call from a variety of phone numbers.
5. Medical Scam Calls
These scam calls can take on many forms. The callers frequently claim to be from Medicare or a well-known medical provider or that your "free" medical alert system is ready to be activated if you "push one." Once you hit a button, you will receive more unsolicited calls and requests to provide your personal information.
6. Student Loan Scam Calls
Scammers leverage the existence of simple but frequently confusing federal programs that can decrease monthly payments or cancel student debt, such as the public service loan forgiveness option, to dupe students into paying unlawful fees or divulging personal information.
Top 5 States with Most Robocalls
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 3.4 million complaints about robocalls in 2021, an increase from 2.8 million in 2020. Over 5 million consumers reported receiving unwanted telemarketing calls in FY 2021, up from almost 4 million in FY 2020. 22% of those complaints were about live telemarketing, while 68% were about robocalls.
The National Do Not Call Registry Data Book for Fiscal Year 2021 reported that the states reporting the most complaints per 100,000 population changed: Maryland (2,028 per 100K population), Delaware (1,982 per 100K population), Arizona (1,945 per 100K population), Colorado (1,943 per 100K population), and Virginia were the top five (1,939 per 100K population).
However, the RoboKiller report suggests that the states with the most robocalls are Texas, California, Florida, Ohio, and Georgia.
1. Texas
The top state when it comes to most robocalls is Texas. It’s projected that at the end of 2022, there will be a total of 11.33 billion robocalls, while the projected year-to-year change is 38.59%.
2. California
The top second state when it comes to most robocalls is California. It’s projected that at the end of 2022, there will be a total of 8.34 billion robocalls, while the projected year-to-year change is 26.98%.
3. Florida
The top third state when it comes to most robocalls is Florida. It’s projected that at the end of 2022, there will be a total of 5.58 billion robocalls, while the projected year-to-year change is 23.71%.
4. Ohio
The fourth top state when it comes to most robocalls is Ohio. It’s projected that at the end of 2022, there will be a total of 3.76 billion robocalls, while the projected year-to-year change is 29.9%.
5. Georgia
The top fifth state when it comes to most robocalls is Georgia. It’s projected that at the end of 2022, there will be a total of 3.64 billion robocalls, while the projected year-to-year change is 32.98%.
How Does a Robocall Affect Financial Losses?
According to the FTC Report, out of 2.8 million frauds, 25% reported a loss. It is equivalent to a $5.9 billion total fraud loss with a median of $500.
It is also reported that out of the total fraud for 2021, 36% came from robocalls and phone calls. Out of all the fraud calls, 9% reported dollar loss, amounting to $692 million, with $1,200 as a median loss.
According to the report from RoboKiller, Americans have already lost an estimated $30 billion to spam calls. In 2022, Americans will lose $59 billion due to robocalls. Such losses have a huge financial cost and a substantial emotional impact on the victims. Older folks are the most typical target of telephone scams, which have a range of adverse health effects, including insomnia and despair.
Additional Statistics from the RoboKiller Report
The report comprehensively analyses the most recent mid-year data on robocall complaints.
Here are the details of the report:
- Robocalls are still prevalent nowadays.
- Even with STIR/SHAKEN and other government efforts in full effect, Americans are estimated to receive 86 billion spam calls in 2022. The financial impact will be disastrous: Americans are projected to lose upwards of $59 billion. As government initiatives broaden and carrier limits tighten, RoboKiller predicts that Americans will begin to receive fewer robocalls.
- Regardless of size, all carriers must comply with STIR/SHAKEN by June 2022. RoboKiller believes that this initiative will initiate a reduction in caller ID spoofing. Although Americans should not expect an instant end to robocalls, they can expect to receive fewer disguised spam calls.
- Brand imposter scams are the primary method by which fraudsters reach Americans. Amazon, Google, Apple, and Target have been among the most commonly impersonated brands thus far in 2022.
- Automobile warranty calls have decreased by 37% since the FCC indicated it would crack down on these automated calls. The efforts of the FCC demonstrate that it is possible to fight back against robocalls. With a concerted effort from regulating authorities, third-party apps like RoboKiller, and carriers, it is conceivable that these unsolicited calls will one day be eliminated.
How to Avoid Robocalls?
Most reports we receive state that unsolicited contact begins with an automated or prerecorded message instructing you to hit a specific number or stay on the line. Follow these best tips to avoid robocall scams.
You should not answer calls from unknown numbers. If you do this by accident, hang up immediately. Never give out personal or financial information to a caller. Always exercise care if you are under pressure to provide information or money.
Register Your Number to the Do Not Call List
You can register your phone numbers for free on the federal Do Not Call list. To register, you must dial the desired phone number. Additionally, you can sign up at donotcall.gov, where you can add your individual wireless phone number to the national Do-Not-Call list.
Consider Call Blockers Like CPR Call Blocker
Consider getting a call blocker like CPR Call Blocker to prevent robocalls and scam calls. The way a call blocker works is by identifying the phone numbers you've blocked. Usually, you attach one of these little boxes to your phone.
Some devices use databases of well-known scammers' phone numbers, but you can add numbers you want to be blocked. The creation and maintenance of your own list of numbers to block are required by other devices.
For example, the CPR Call Blocker V100K for landlines has been preloaded with 100,000 of the most harmful robocall numbers reported to the FCC. This can significantly reduce robocalls, scam calls, political calls, election calls and general nuisance calls once the call blocker is connected.