The report from Truecaller, a spam-blocking app, shows that Americans felt victim to more phone scams this year costing them $10.5 billion, up from $8.9 billion the year before. One in six Americans reported losing money with an average loss of $244 per person.
Men are more susceptible to the phone scams than women, young men in particular, with 62% of the victims being male.
There’s been an increase in persistent spam calls where the spammer will call two, three, or four times in a row. Americans reported seeing on average 32 calls and 11 text in a month – a 39% increase from the year before.
The most common phone scams usually have something to do with getting a great credit deal, having won something or that there’s a problem with their account.
The report also mentions that 92% of those who lost money reported taking some action, which may include downloading a spam blocker, cancelling a credit card or changing account numbers.
More of the report can befound here.
