Americans wasted 195 million hours answering spam calls in 2023

Truecaller has released its first monthly spam and scam calls report for U.S. consumers. The highlight of the report is that Americans on average receive up to 2.1 billion spam calls per month. This means that an average American receives six spam calls per month. More importantly, nearly one of every ten spam calls comes from outside the United States, with the majority originating from India, Nigeria, Egypt, Colombia, Canada, and Peru. The company will unveil the monthly report on the 5th of every month.

The report notes that Americans collectively wasted 195 million hours answering spam calls throughout 2023. 195 million hours translates to roughly 22,260 years. Scamming activity peaks during the holiday season, with fraudsters capitalizing on the heightened charitable spirit and travel plans. Furthermore, AI has amplified the threat. It gives scammers access to powerful tools that enable them to mimic the voices of family members, authority figures, and government officials.

Truecaller’s co-founder and CEO Alam Mamedi states, “Fraudsters are targeting consumers through every medium on their phones, deploying sophisticated AI-powered scams via calls, texts, emails and direct messages on social media.”

Mississippi tops the list in receiving spam calls in the U.S.

Mississippi received an average estimated 29,987,385 spam calls over the last year. It is closely followed by states like South Carolina, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Alabama. These states make it to the top five in receiving the highest spam calls, as per data shared by Truecaller.

Hawaii receives the lowest number of spam calls in the U.S.

Meanwhile, Hawaii came at the first position in receiving the lowest number of spam calls over the last year. The top five states that receive the lowest number of spam calls include New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, Massachusetts, and Washington.

These spam calls, as Truecaller highlights, mainly include credit card fraud, identity theft, medicare/insurance, social security, car warranties, and debt collection.