2018 TNS Robocall Report: One-Third of Calls Are High Risk or Nuisance

Analysis of more than 1 billion call events each day across hundreds of carriers also finds that Monday is heaviest day for robocalls while Friday sees lightest volume

 

Reston, VA, October 17, 2018 – One-third of all calls to wireless and wireline subscribers are now considered to be high risk (scam/fraudulent) or nuisance, according to the Transaction Network Services (TNS) 2018 Robocall Investigation Report. The report also finds that Monday sees the heaviest volume of robocalls, while Friday is the lightest day.

 

The 2018 Robocall Investigation Report draws from over 1 billion daily call events across hundreds of carriers and integrates a vast amount of factual evidence from TNS’ network traffic over the last three years. The data analyzed for this report is unique to the telecom industry, offering an objective, first-hand view of robocalling, spamming and spoofing.

 

High risk (scam/fraudulent) and nuisance robocalls are up 15 percent the first eight months of 2018 according to the report, challenging policymakers as well as carriers and other industry participants to identify strategies and solutions able to protect consumers and businesses.

Additional key findings from the TNS Robocall Investigation Report include:

 

  • Robocall scammers give consumers a case of the “Mondays”. Nearly one-quarter (24%) of all high risk and nuisance robocalls originate on Mondays. While most businesses do not typically call customers on the weekend, Saturday (17%) and Sunday (19%) followed as the next two heaviest robocall volume days. Robocall traffic declines as the week progresses, with Friday (7%) being the lightest day.
  • Neighbor spoofing emerges as a preferred tactic. Robocall scammers believe users are more likely to answer the phone if Caller ID shows a familiar number.
  • VoIP numbers used heavily by robocallers. 50% of the high risk/nuisance calls originate from VoIP numbers.
  • Robocallers doubling down on invalid/unallocated numbers. The use of invalid and unallocated numbers (such as those with area codes that don’t exist) continues to rise, doubling over the first eight months of 2018.
  • Robocall user feedback has nearly doubled. Growing consumer frustration with robocalls has translated into users more proactively providing crowdsourced feedback to carriers. Subscribers report 57% of robocalls as spam, 22% as scam-fraud, 14% as telemarketers, and 7% as other.

 

“The report’s data reveals an important story: consumers and businesses are increasingly the target of high risk robocalls while scammers continue to turn to neighbor spoofing and other new tactics to stay one step ahead of robocall blocking and detection solutions,” said Bill Versen, Chief Product Officer, TNS. “The good news is that consumers are more proactive in reporting negative robocalls, and carriers are tapping this invaluable feedback as well as big data from across their networks to identify robocallers in real-time and better protect subscribers.”

 

Please click here if you are interested in a full copy of the 2018 TNS Robocall Investigation Report.

 

About TNS

From small rural operators in the US to the largest multi-national carriers, TNS has over 500 operator customers and addresses the full needs of wireless and wireline operators in the US and globally. The TNS Call Guardian robocall detection solution is used by leading US wireless service providers as well as US landline providers and is accessible via numerous types of signaling protocols, can be customized by the individual operator, and is available to all types of service providers, including wireless, VoIP, and TDM wireline. TNS analyzes over 1 billion call events across over 500 operators every single day, which is why TNS Call Guardian app identifies 40-60% more unwanted robocalls than competitors. TNS uses the combination of deep network integration with its carrier partner networks combined with real-time intelligence of its Call Guardian solution. For additional information visit here.

 

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Company Contact:
Jo Moorwood / Clare Cockroft

TNS
703.814.8065

[email protected]

 

Media Contact:
Brian Lustig, Bluetext for TNS

202.836.9112

[email protected]

 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article/press release are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the approved policy or position of the GSMA or its subsidiaries.

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