Millennials and men are more often fooled by scams and robocalls, says a new report.
The report from Truecaller, a caller ID and spam call blocking app, says that men and younger adults are the groups most likely to fall victim and lose money to a phone scam – particularly men aged 18-34. Despite receiving lower than average spam calls per month (21) – and half the number of calls reported by men over 65 (47) – men aged 18-34 also reported the highest instance of lost money. Two in five men aged 18-34 (40%) claimed they’d been victimized by a phone scam in the past 12 months compared to only 13% of men aged 35+ and 28% of women aged 18-34. Overall the number of men being victimized (21%) was a significant 62% higher than women (13%).
In its fifth annual report, the study revealed that nearly 1 in every 6 American adults (17%) lost money from a phone scam in the past 12 months with over half of those who have ever been scammed (56%) reporting they’ve been a victim more than once.
![average money lost per scam](https://i0.wp.com/truecaller.blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2.-Truecaller-Average-Money-Lost-Per-Scam.png?fit=474%2C382&ssl=1)
With an average loss of $244 per victim, the result of these scams is projected to have cost 43 million Americans approximately $10.5 billion in total losses.
Total Spam Calls Up 39% Over Last 12 Months:
![monthly spam calls and text messages received](https://i0.wp.com/truecaller.blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/3.-Truecaller-Monthly-Spam-Recieved.png?fit=474%2C382&ssl=1)
On average, Americans reported receiving 32 spam calls (mobile and/or landline – of which 72% were robocalls) and 11 spam text messages in an average month, which is a significant uptick of 39% for spam calls from last year (average 23 spam calls in 2018). Over a 12-month period, that amounts to roughly 97.2 billion spam-related calls and more than 33.4 billion spam texts received in the US.
Parents with Children Under 18 Years Old More Likely to be Scammed:
The report also found that parents with a child under the age of 18 years old are three times as likely to fall victim to being phone scammed at 30% while just 10% of adults without a child under 18 reported losing money on a scam in the past 12 months.
Households with Total Income Above $50K and Less Than $75K Least Likely to be Scammed:
Americans in households with a total income between $50K and $74.9K annually reported fewer incidences of phone scams at 12%, almost half the amount reported by households with incomes of $75K – $99k or those making less than $50K, which were scammed 21% and 19% respectively.
Scammers Target Mobile Phones:
![scam calls on mobile vs landline](https://i1.wp.com/truecaller.blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Scam-Calls-on-Mobile-vs-Landline.png?fit=474%2C382&ssl=1)
Among those reporting phone scams in the past 12 months, 83% say it took place via mobile phone while just 22% say it occurred over a landline. Some reported receiving scam calls on both mobile and landline.
“Great Credit Deal” is Most Commonly Received Phone Spam
![most common spam and scam calls in 2019](https://i0.wp.com/truecaller.blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/6.-Truecaller-Most-Common-Spam-Scam-Calls-in-2019.png?fit=474%2C287&ssl=1)
Whilst “great credit deal” offers and the caller telling the recipient they’ve won something topped the list of most common phone spam, over half of Americans receive unsolicited calls of a negative nature, including problems with accounts and claims of owed money. The 5 most commonly received phone spam calls are as follows:
- Great Deal
70% of Americans have received calls about getting a great deal
- You’ve Won Something
64% received calls saying they have won something
- Problems with an Account
53% received calls saying there is a problem with an account
- Owe Money
50% received calls saying they owe money
- Political calls
Nearly half of Americans (49%) report receiving political calls
94% of People Who Lost Money Reported Taking Some Action:
![actions taken after being scammed](https://i2.wp.com/truecaller.blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/7.-Truecaller-Actions-Taken-After-Being-Scammed.png?fit=474%2C287&ssl=1)
As a result of being scammed, most (94%) of those victimized said they took some action as a result.
Among those who lost money on phone scams in the past 12 months:
- 35% downloaded a spam blocker or caller ID app
- 32% cancelled credit card or changed account numbers
- 30% checked phone bill
- 25% contacted phone carrier
- 23% changed phone number
- 20% reported it to authorities (police, FCC, FTC)
- 18% signed up for Do Not Call Registry
- 17% signed up for credit protection/monitoring
- 16% used “reverse look-up” or searched phone number to try and identify caller
- 6% did nothing
The survey also detailed how people would react to calls from numbers they don’t recognize. Over two thirds of Americans (71%) say they would completely ignore calls from unknown numbers while nearly half (47%) would either block or report the number.
Here’s the complete breakdown for each action to be taken for an unknown number:
Unknown calls
- Ignore completely (71%)
- Attempt to block or report the number (47%)
- Answer and hang up immediately to stop the phone from ringing (30%)
- Try to track down the source of number (28%)
- Answer or respond right away (14%)
- Use call-back feature (13%)
- Respond later (8%)
- Other action (7%)
- Not sure (5%)
Unknown text messages
- Delete text (64%)
- Ignore completely (60%)
- Attempt to block or report the number (34%)
- Try to track down the source of the number (18%)
- Respond later (9%)
- Use “call back” feature (8%)
- Answer or respond right away (8%)
- Other action (6%)
- Not sure (7%)
Most Americans Would Rather Avoid Phone Calls Altogether
The survey found that more than half of Americans (55%) prefer to use text, social media apps and email in a bid to avoid phone calls altogether. This figure is even higher amongst the younger generations (ages 18-34) with almost three quarters (73%) stating they favour other forms of communication to avoid talking on the phone, compared to 57% of those aged 45-54 and 35% of those aged 55+.
Americans Worry They Will Miss Legitimate Phone Calls Because of Spam
Although 87% of Americans say they try to only answer calls if they recognize the caller’s number, almost two thirds of Americans (61%) worry they might miss legitimate calls because they suspect they are spam and don’t answer.