ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando’s 407 area code ranks in the top 20 on the list of most robocalled phone targets in the United States, according to the June 2017 YouMail Robocall Index.
YouMail, a free consumer service that blocks robocallers using what it calls an “automated virtual receptionist,” found that 48 percent of the 50 most -robocalled cities in America were based in southern states, and it is “part of an ongoing pattern in which Southerners continue to bear the largest brunt of robocalling.”
Atlanta topped the national list as the most robocalled city for the 19th straight month, hitting 113.6 million robocalls last month.
Orlando’s June robocall connections to the 407 area code hit 21 million, according to the YouMail Index. That's roughly 14.6 calls per person affected.
There was a twist. Numbers in the 407 area code also made roughly 18.9 million outbound robocalls.
YouMail CEO Alex Quilici told WKMG-TV News 6 that the tactic is called “neighborhood spoofing,” in which spammers use local area codes as a sort of Trojan horse to fool residents.
“The spammers have figured out if you get a call from a number that looks like your area code and prefix
you’re more likely to answer it, and for whatever reason they’re doing it in Orlando,” said Quilici.
According to Quilici, a large majority of the top 20 robocalling numbers in June, 18 of them were those of debt collectors, including those looking to collect for "credit card firms, banks, cable TV companies and retailers.”
Americans were interrupted by an estimated 2.53 million robocalls in June, -- a 6.6 percent increase over the same month one year ago.
For more information about the YouMail Robocall Index or to view the latest report, visit: http://robocallindex.com.
The YouMail app has stopped over 500 million robocalls this past year.
The app is available at the Apple and Google stores. Or you can get more information on the website at youmail.com