Study Shows Tampa Is Highly Targeted For Phone Scams
A recent study shows that Tampa is a highly targeted city for phone scams. Does your phone blow up all day from unwanted calls? It seems like I’m constantly dodging calls labeled “Scam Likely.” Well apparently I’m not alone. Allaboutcookies.org recently conducted a study that showed certain cities are bigger targets for telemarketing and phone scams.
Not only are spam calls super annoying, but they can also be very dangerous. Scammers often present a false scenario in order to receive money. One of the most common scams is pretending to be a member of the IRS threatening legal consequences if a given amount isn’t paid. Telephone scams jeopardize important personal information and are very costly and time-consuming to resolve for victims. All About Cookies analyzed call data from YouMail, which operates patented apps that answer and block unwanted calls. Then, for each city they determined the number of unwanted calls.
What did they find?
- Telephone scams account for more than 60% of all unwanted calls received by Americans.
- Atlanta experienced the highest overall volume of unwanted phone calls, with an average of 45 calls per week.
- Between telemarketers and scam attempts, Americans received over 30 billion unwanted calls from January 2021 to September 2022.
- More than 18 billion, or 60.4%, of the unwanted calls Americans received were scams.
Here are the top 10 cities that are highly targeted for phone scams
- Atlanta, Georgia – 45 unwanted calls per week
- Baltimore, Maryland – 18 unwanted calls per week
- Tampa, Florida – 17 unwanted calls per week
- Dallas, Texas – 16.5 unwanted calls per week
- Miami, Florida – 14 unwanted calls per week
- Cleveland, Ohio – 12.4 unwanted calls per week
- New Orleans, Louisiana – 11.9 unwanted calls per week
- Detroit, Michigan – 11.3 unwanted calls per week
- Raleigh, North Carolina – 10 unwanted calls per week
- San Francisco, California – 11 unwanted calls per week
Obviously the safest way to avoid getting scammed over the phone is to not answer unknown numbers. If you unknowingly answer a spam call, avoid revealing any personally identifiable information. It’s also smart to review your bills, bank statements, and credit reports to make sure your identity hasn’t been stolen!
