Here Are Illinois' Most Prolific Robocallers

ILLINOIS — Robocalls are annoying. There’s nothing worse than seeing your phone buzz, picking up, and hearing a robotic voice on the other end try to dupe you into giving up your bank and credit card information. And with tax season coming up, residents of Illinois can expect even more.

A record 5.2 billion robocalls were placed last month, according to YouMail’s robocall index, and 58 percent of them were scam or telemarketing calls. That includes 181.5 million robocalls in Illinois.

Illinois also ranked No. 7 on a list of states that receive the most robocalls.

Here are the top 10 robocallers in Illinois last month:

1. 800-266-2278, Comcast customer service, debt/bill collector
2. 866-718-4777, Securus Inmate, prison call consent
3. 866-890-3387, First Premier Bank, debt collector
4. 800-955-6600, Capital One payments/collections, debt collector
5. 800-694-7466, Apple iCloud scam, generic scammer
6. 855-895-3382, Fingerhut, debt collector
7. 800-321-9637, Exeter Debt Collection, debt collector
8. 773-553-5700, Chicago Public Schools Information Line, school announcement
9. 877-378-9207, Comcast, service payment reminder
10. 773-377-9494, Peerless Network, generic robocaller

You can see the full list of Illinois' most prolific robocallers here.

The index showed that residents in Baton Rouge were bombarded with robocalls last month, ranking No. 1 in the country at a staggering 58.4 robocalls per person. Washington, D.C. residents saw the second-highest number of calls at 51.6. Here are the 10 cities receiving the most calls per person.

1. Baton Rouge, LA — 58.4 robocalls per person
2. Washington, D.C. — 51.6 robocalls per person
3. Memphis, TN — 42.3 robocalls per person
4. Macon, GA — 37.4 robocalls per person
5. Lafayette, LA — 33.3 robocalls per person
6. Little Rock, AR — 33.3 robocalls per person
7. Birmingham, AL — 31.5 robocalls per person
8. Albany, GA — 31.5 robocalls per person
9. Las Vegas, NV — 31.2 robocalls per person
10. Shreveport, LA — 30.9 robocalls per person

YouMail says the nationwide rise coincides with a “search listing scam,” where robocallers dupe small business owners into giving up credit card information. The scammer promises to boost the business’ ranking in Google search listings.

And with more and more tax filers sending their returns to the IRS, don’t expect scam robocalls to decline anytime soon.

In fact, a new report from the data communication network company Transaction Network Services found that April 17, 2018 — Tax Day — saw more negative robocalls than any other day of the year. That month saw the highest volume of the year. The researchers noted that call spoofing — when scammers change their caller ID so they match your area code — remains the go-to tactic for bad actors. One in every 4,000 phone numbers was hijacked by a spoofer, the company found.

Bill Versen, chief product officer at the company, said consumers need to be “especially vigilant” as Tax Day approaches, and keep their guard up.

The FCC offers a few tips for those wanting to stop unwanted and illegal robocalls. Among them, don’t answer calls from unknown numbers, do not respond to questions — especially those that can be answered with “yes” — and never give out personal information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers and mother’s maiden names.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.