--- title: Rise of Robocall Scams | TIME description: Scam calls are on the rise, with fraudsters opting sneaky tactics to get you to pick up your phone. canonical: https://time.com/video/jRChUnoS/ og:title: Rise of Robocall Scams og:description: Scam calls are on the rise, with fraudsters opting sneaky tactics to get you to pick up your phone. og:url: https://time.com/video/jRChUnoS/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jRChUnoS/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rise of Robocall Scams twitter:description: Scam calls are on the rise, with fraudsters opting sneaky tactics to get you to pick up your phone. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jRChUnoS/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Rise of Robocall Scams > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Rise of Robocall Scams [Watch (HLS stream): Rise of Robocall Scams](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jRChUnoS.m3u8) (3:11)  _Published 2018-05-30. Scam calls are on the rise, with fraudsters opting sneaky tactics to get you to pick up your phone._ --- Jul 28, 2023 12:02 AM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Inside the Influencer Scam | TIME](/video/yx7MIKWz/) ### Inside the Influencer Scam | TIME [Felicity Huffman Shows at Court in College Scam](/video/BNQvut6R/) ### Felicity Huffman Shows at Court in College Scam [Everything You Need to Know About the Google Docs Email Phishing Scam](/video/jMGGrMGp/) ### Everything You Need to Know About the Google Docs Email Phishing Scam --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] No you're not crazy, robocalls are reaching epic proportions. Roughly 3. 4 billion calls were placed nationwide in April alone with both receiving over 10 calls a month on average. That's an increase of almost 900 million calls compared to a year ago. Robo calls can be divided into three categories. One type are legitimate calls from places like your pharmacy to tell you that your prescription is ready for pickup. Another are spam calls from organizations you shared your info with at one point, like charities. The final and most troubling are Scam calls which are illegal calls aim at defrauding you. Scam calls are on the rise with fraudsters opting for sneeky tactics to get you to pick up your phone such as neighborhood spoofing. This is where robocalls use a fake number with a local area code. This calls used to make up 2 % of all robocalls, now there are more than 20 %. In March, the top phone scams included gimmicks such as 0 % interest rate offers, options to lower student loans, and free vacation deals. They aren't just a nuisance. These calls are targeting your info and your wallets. Since December, NYPD reports that 21 New York residents lost $ 2. 5 million in one type of The scam alone. Federal law makers have noticed the surge too. Both the U. S. Senate and Senate held hearings within the past two months to curb robocall abuses with each either passing or introducing legislation. The Federal Communications Commission also issued new rules to allow phone companies to block certain robocalls. But despite these efforts our robocall epidemic Is a thorny problem to solve, with some likening it to a game of whack- a- mole. Calls travel through a maze of networks, making it hard to exact their origins and enables callers to evade the rules, like finding new numbers to hide behind after their numbers are blocked. According to experts, automated calls are increasing because they are cheap and easy to make. Allowing robocallers to. To dial millions of consumers daily. So how do you avoid them as regulators and legislation rush to catch up with the problem? Go get registered. Make sure you're on the National Do Not Call Registry. Getting on the registry does work, but it only blocks legal calls, and it's not going to stop scammers that don't follow rules. If scammers try to sell you something and you haven't provided consent the call is illegal and you can report them to the Federal Trade Commision. Your next step to stop that inseve hotline bling is to block them. There are hundreds of apps for free and for purchase, even blocking robocalls. Apps like RoboKiller say customers have notice a decrease in 90 % of RoBo calls received. Lastly [ INAUDIBLE ] Contact your network to report that number and ensure that spammer is blocked by your carrier. It's a process, but we hope you too get to sing, you used to call me on my cellphone, as you say Bye to scammers. 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