Warning: Illinois' Most Prolific Robocallers

ILLINOIS — Robocalls have become such an incessant annoyance that many Americans are wary of picking up the phone. In November alone, five billion robocalls were placed, and of those, 164.3 million were in Illinois, according to YouMail’s most recent robocall index.

Nationwide, robocalls are made at a rate of 167.3 million per day, 7 million per hour and 1,900 per second. The average U.S. resident received 15.3 robocalls in November.

The November tally is down a bit from October, when about 5.7 billion robocalls were detected, according to Alex Quilici, the CEO of the robocall blocking and tracking company YouMail.

"It has been declining," Quilici said. "We think it’s a couple of things. It’s harder to get through because of blocking apps, so they have to keep making more calls to get through. And a lot of people respond to them."

On Wednesday, Illinois' Congressman Dan Lipinski, who represents part of Cook County, supported a bill headed to President Donald Trump's desk which would help to fight illegal robocalls.

"Consumers in the Third District and across the country have had it with the daily barrage of abusive spam robocalls. Enough is enough," Lipinski said in a press release.

The bill "enables consumers to block unlawful calls in a consistent and transparent way" and "to go after scammers the first time they break the law."

It also adds a $10,000 penalty for intentional violators of the act.

See the bill here.

In Illinois, residents received 164.3 million robocalls in November. The top 10 robocallers here were:

1. Capital One, 800-955-6600, Bank/Credit Card Payment Reminder
2. First Premier Bank, 866-890-3387, Bank/Credit Card Payment Reminder
3. Prison Call Consent, 866-718-4777, Prison Call Consent
4. Customer Call, 888-934-6489, Service Appointment Reminder
5. Unknown, 855-245-7098, Debt Collector
6. Illinois Electric, 630-279-1279, Unknown Robocaller
7. Health Insurance Span, 800-318-2596, Health Insurance Spam
8. Synchrony Bank, 855-885-5834, Bank/Credit Card Payment Reminder
9. Apple, 800-692-7753, Apple iCloud Scam
10. Santander, 888-222-4227, Bank/Credit Card Payment Reminder

The 10 cities that received the most robocalls in November were:

1. Atlanta: 199,110,700 robocalls, down 10 percent from October
2. Dallas: 187,406,200 robocalls, down nine percent from October
3. Los Angeles: 154,718,100 robocalls, down 12 percent from October
4. Houston: 152,960,400 robocalls, down 10 percent from October
5. New York City: 140,752,400 robocalls, down 14 percent from October
6. Chicago: 171,866,400 robocalls, down 18 percent from October
7. Baltimore: 103,392,600 robocalls, down 16 percent from October
8. Phoenix: 103,086,000 robocalls, down five percent from October
9. Newark, New Jersey: 97,532,400 robocalls, down 13 percent from October
10. San Francisco Bay area: 91,224,800 robocalls, down 12 percent from October

Nationally, about 47 percent of robocalls were scam calls, according to the report. The rest were legitimate — 12 percent were telemarketers, 19 percent were payment reminders, and 22 percent were alerts and other reminders.

Related: Scammers Are Scaring, Extorting Millions From Your Aging Parents

Many robocalls direct people to press “1” on their phone keypads if they want more information, or to press “9” to be taken off the calling list. Both actions are counterproductive, signaling to the caller that a real person has been reached, Quilici said.

“It’s pointless to press a number,” he said. “It just tells them it’s an active number, so you’re going to get more calls.”

The calls aren’t just annoying. The blocking and tracking firm Truecaller estimates that consumers have lost $10.5 billion to phone scams so far this year, with an average loss of $244.

Both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives have passed legislation cracking down on annoying and unsolicited robocalls, but the two bills need to be reconciled before sending them to President Trump for his signature.

The bills give Federal Communications Commission regulators stronger enforcement tools. The House version requires phone carriers to implement caller identification technology, and it requires the FCC to report annually to Congress on the state of robocalls.

But Quilici said the legislation “isn’t a panacea,” and he doesn’t think tougher laws will make robocalls disappear entirely.

The increased frequency of robocalls in October proves that blocking apps are effective, Quilici said.

“On your computer, you run anti-virus software,” he said. “Now you need to run YouMail or another app on your cell phone to block the calls. Consumers have to protect themselves. You lock your door, you need to run a robocall blocking apps and services. It’s the new normal.”

Some other robocall blocking apps include:

• Nomorobo
• Hiya
• RoboKiller
• Call Control Home
• Trucaller
• YouMail
• Trapcall
• Sentry 3.1
• CPR Call Blocker
• Digitone Pro Series Call Blocker

Some strategies:

• Be leery about anyone calling on the phone about any emergency. Get a phone number to call back, and verify the whereabouts and safety of the person the call is about.
• Never give out Social Security, Medicare or financial account information over the phone.
• In general, avoid answering calls from numbers you don't recognize.
• Don't confirm any personal information. Avoid saying "yes" to any question, as calls may be recorded and the answer can be used as consent for a purchase you didn't request.
• Don't press any numbers to stop calls. That will likely increase the number of robocalls you get, signaling to the scammers they've reached an active number.
• Change your voicemail message so it doesn't reveal your name or other personal information. If you want a legitimate caller to know they've reached you, go ahead and put your phone number on the message.
• Don't return calls that claim to be from the IRS, the Social Security Administration, your bank or a local police or sheriff's department. If you think the message is legitimate, don't return the number left on a voicemail. Instead, look up the legitimate phone number.
• Register both your landline and your cell phone numbers on the Do Not Call Registry.
• Report robocalls and other unwanted calls with the FTC, by phone at 888-382-1222 or 877-382-4357, or online.