Rise of the robocalls: Southern Californians getting almost 9 million a day

Your phone rings. The number on your caller ID isn’t one of your contacts. You wince, wondering whether to answer just in case, or let it go to voicemail.

If there’s a recorded voice on the other end of the line — probably trying to sell you something or scam you into giving up money or personal information — then you have just received one of the 7 million to 9 million robocalls that Southern Californians are estimated to be bombarded with each day.

A new federal law intended to crack down on that scourge passed the House in early December and the Senate on Dec. 19; President Donald Trump is expected to sign it.

The Traced Act, as it’s called, will require phone companies to offer consumers free tools to identify and block spam calls, including “spoofed” calls that show a fake number on caller ID. It also will make it easier for the Federal Communications Commission to go after robocallers and will allow fines of up to $10,000 per illegal call.

Even so, Maureen Mahoney, policy analyst for Consumer Reports, told The Associated Press that “robocalls are not going to disappear overnight.”

Robocalls aren’t just annoying. They’re illegal if the caller doesn’t have your permission (with exceptions for things like informational non-sales calls, debt collection calls, political calls and messages directly from charities).

And when they’re scams, which many are, they can cost you — offering “prizes” you have to pay for or threatening a fine or even arrest if you don’t cough up money, to name two common hoaxes. Fraudulent phone calls have cost Americans at least $322 million this year, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Here’s a look at the scope of robocalls and other unwanted phone calls across Southern California.

How many are received?

Thirteen area codes across Southern California received an estimated 251.7 million robocalls in November, according to the Robocall Index compiled by YouMail, a robocall-blocking service headquartered in Irvine.

• 213: 9.1 million calls (average of 3.9 per person)
• 310: 46.8 million calls (average of 18.4 per person)
• 323: 24.4 million calls (average of 5.6 per person)
• 424: 3.9 million calls (average of 7.9 per person)
• 562: 18.8 million calls (average of 8.8 per person)
• 626: 19.4 million calls (average of 10.7 per person)
• 657: 561,200 calls (no estimate per person)
• 714: 27.8 million calls (average of 13.4 per person)
• 747: 555,100 (no estimate per person)
• 818: 31.7 million calls (average of 15.3 per person)
• 909: 25.4 million calls (average of 8.6 per person)
• 949: 18.6 million calls (average of 17.4 per person)
• 951: 24.7 million calls (average of 9 per person)

YouMail estimates based on data it collects from its users that almost half of those robocalls are scams. About 40% are alerts and reminders, and the rest are telemarketing calls.

The Robocall Index also shows that robocalls have been on the rise for the past two years — collectively, those 13 area codes received almost 70 percent more robocalls in November 2019 than in November 2017.

“The robocallers worked harder to get through, and there were more illegal robocallers setting up shop,” YouMail CEO Alex Quilici said.

What complaints reveal

The FTC operates the Do Not Call Registry, which lets people opt out of telemarketing calls from legitimate companies. But it can’t stop robocallers. The FTC encourages people to report all robocalls, whether or not they’ve signed up on the registry, as well as any Do Not Call violations. An online form is available at donotcall.gov/report.html.

Since October 2016, the FTC has received more than 2.2 million Do Not Call complaints from Californians. About two-thirds of those were robocalls, while one-third were from live callers.

The good news: Compared to the rest of the U.S., Californians don’t have it too bad — the state ranks 21st in complaints per capita. New Jersey, Colorado and Connecticut are worst off, while Alaska, Mississippi and North Dakota residents complain the least.

Less good news: Within the state, Southern California counties have some of the highest per-capita rates of complaints.

• Los Angeles County is No. 1 out of 58 counties, with about 275,000 complaints in the past three years
• Orange County is No. 2 (122,000 complaints)
• Riverside County is No. 5 (62,000 complaints)
• San Bernardino County is No. 8 (45,000 complaints)

Calls offering to reduce debt and calls from imposters are the top two issues that people reported in all four counties — they made up 43% of complaints.

In third place: Calls about home improvement or cleaning in Los Angeles and Orange counties, calls about energy, solar or utilities in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The No. 4 issue in all four counties was calls about medical services and prescriptions.

Statewide, the number of Do Not Call complaints has stayed pretty steady at about 60,000 per month — but the subject of the complaints has been changing, with fewer coming in on topics like debt reduction, vacations/timeshares, energy/solar/utilities and home improvement/cleaning. The number of complaints about imposters has spiked, though, more than doubling between August 2018 and August 2019.

In addition to the FTC’s Do Not Call complaints, the FCC takes complaints about unwanted calls. It has received more than 110,000 complaints from people in California since 2015, with about 60% of unwanted calls coming in to a wireless phone, 30% to landlines and 10% to internet-based phones.

That database offers some insight into when people get robocalls. Most — 93% — come on weekdays, and the prime time for robocalls appears to be between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.  The number of complaints peaks in May through August, and is lowest in November through January.

What else can you do?

In addition to reporting any robocalls or Do Not Call violations to the FTC — which helps the government, law enforcement and phone carriers identify problems — the agency has this advice:

• If you get a robocall, just hang up. Don’t press any numbers, even if the message says you should in order to speak to someone or take your number off their list. It’s probably lying.
• Look into call-blocking services, which stop unwanted calls from ringing through (but may also stop legitimate calls). Some are free, while others charge a fee; the FTC recommends reading expert reviews to decide which is right for you. Your phone may have built-in features. Phone companies may already offer options, and will be required to — for free — under the new law.
• Educate yourself about common phone scams so you’re less likely to fall for them. The FTC has good information at www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0208-phone-scams.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.