American citizens received about two billion spam and scam calls last month, according to a new report by Truecaller.
The Swedish provider services caller ID and call blocking did some research and came to this conclusion.
The number of calls is huge, albeit smaller than the 2.6 billion scam calls recorded in November 2022. However, the news data show almost six nuisance or malicious calls per person in a month.
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Since the beginning of 2023 to date, Americans have wasted about 195 million hours answering those calls.
The most common scam calls were related to credit card fraud and fraud related to theft ID card, medical insurance, social security, car warranty and debt collection. According to Truecaller, the non-malicious calls included sales calls, automated calls from real calls companies, online surveys or political calls.
However, during the festive season, the volume of fraud usually increases, with charitable donations, false deliveries of goods and others. Ο Deepfake Audio is also a growing threat, allowing fraudsters to impersonate the voices of known individuals of the victims.
“Fraudsters target consumers through various means on their phones, developing sophisticated AI scams via calls, text messages, email and direct messages on social media", said Alan Mamedi, co-founder and CEO of Truecaller.
See also: VIPRE research on spam and phishing emails
“With our new monthly data report, our goal is to inform smartphone users in the U.S. about modern scams which is on the rise and for the markets that are most affected by fraud, so that people can be protected“.
Approximately 10% of spam and scam calls apparently come from outside the US - mainly from India, Nigeria, Nigeria, Egypt, Colombia, Canada and Peru.
Auto-dialing software that delivers pre-recorded messages to recipients is an increasingly popular tool for scammers. In March, Juniper Research estimated that the cost of such calls will increase by 9% by 2022 to reach $58 billion globally this year.
One of the measures proposed to deal with these unwanted calls is to strengthening the legislative framework for consumer protection. This may include tougher penalties for people making spam calls and the imposition of increased fines.
See also: WhatsApp: new feature to fight spam calls
In addition, a proposed solution is the raising public awareness on how to deal with unwanted calls. Educational campaigns and information materials can inform people about the dangers of spam calls and give them advice on how to protection their. By raising awareness, consumers can become more cautious and avoid answering unwanted calls.
Finally, the cooperation between telecommunications companies and authorities is one of the most important measures to deal with spam calls. Companies can work with the authorities to detect and block spam calls, and to develop and implement appropriate technologies and practices. With effective cooperation, swift action can be taken to deal with unwanted calls and protect consumers.
Source : www.infosecurity-magazine.com
