Holiday Break: Spam Calls Decrease 11% In December, According to Robokiller

With the holidays in full swing and the omicron variant spreading rapidly, conditions were ripe for a decrease in spam calls. That’s exactly what happened according to RoboKiller, the app that eliminates 99% of spam calls and text messages: spam calls declined 11% in December. While Americans received fewer spam calls than they did in November 2021, spam calls as a whole remain elevated from 2020. RoboKiller identified an 8% increase in spam calls compared to last December’s 5.8 billion.

Historically, phone spam is less common in December, as scammers take time off for the holidays. Plus, renewed concerns over COVID-19 likely exacerbated the dip (RoboKiller observed a sharp decrease in spam calls in the initial months of the pandemic).

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Spoofed Spam Calls Declined (Again)

It seems STIR/SHAKEN may slowly but surely be gaining momentum, as spoofed spam calls decreased slightly by 1.66% in December. This marks the second consecutive month-over-month drop.

December 2021 Key Phone Spam Trends  

As RoboKiller predicted in its Mid-Year Report, car warranty calls were the most common scam in 2021. It’s remained in the top spot since January 2021, and the number of calls increased 45% from November to December. 

Top Spam Calls Nationwide:

Robocall Category	Estimated Spam Calls	% of Total Robocalls	Robocall Examples
Vehicle Warranty	1,168,885,551	18.60%	Listen to spam call recording
Religious	212,410,385	3.38%	Listen to spam call recording

*All audio examples are phone scams blocked and audio fingerprinted by RoboKiller

Top Spam Texts Nationwide:

Spam Text Category	Estimated Spam Texts	% of Total Spam Texts
Delivery (Amazon, UPS, USPS, etc.)	2,006,661,949	22.54%
Political	1,273,592,224	14.31%
COVID-19	438,341,702	4.92%

Delivery-related spam text messages increased by 28% from November, as shoppers made  holiday purchases. Scammers predict people’s purchasing habits and seek to capitalize on them. With more people shopping from home, it’s no surprise this scam category skyrocketed in December.

View RoboKiller’s latest blog post for tips to stay safe from text scams.

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Coming Soon: 2021 Year In Review

Be on the lookout for RoboKiller’s end-of-year phone spam and political messaging reports. Click here and here to read our mid-year reports.