T-Mobile US reported that its data through early December 2021 shows that attempted scam call traffic on its network hit all-time highs and jumped over 116% from 2020.
The T-Mobile Scam Shield identified or blocked over 21 billion scam calls — that’s 700 calls identified or blocked as Scam Likely every second — in 2021.
“Attempted scam calls hit record highs in 2021, but with Scam Shield we identified or blocked over 21 billion calls this year — or 700 calls per second! — for customers. We are the only provider protecting every single customer, regardless of their plan or device,” said Jon Freier, President, T-Mobile’s Consumer Group.
Report data is determined by extrapolating from T-Mobile network and partners covering January 1, 2021 – December 14, 2021.
Insights from the T-Mobile Scam and Robocall Report include:
- Scam calls reached record highs in 2021. After months of quarantine shutdown for many scammer operations in 2020, scammers came back in full force in 2021 and continued to get more aggressive as the year progressed.
- Scam volume doubled in 2021. The lowest measured month for scam traffic was January 2021, identifying 1.1 billion calls as Scam Likely. By November, volume had increased exponentially, and T-Mobile identified double the January traffic at 2.5 billion calls as Scam Likely.
- Scammers take it easy on the weekends. The T-Mobile network tracked about an 85% drop in calls identified as Scam Likely from Monday-Friday to over the weekends!
- Scammers are posing as businesses in large volumes. In terms of volume, the number one scam attempt in 2021 was related to fake vehicle warranties with over 51% of the measured volume. Other top scam attempts included pretending to be with the Social Security office (10%), wireless provider (9%), car insurance company (6%), or package delivery (4%). Scammers were also posing as health insurance or health providers, the IRS, or credit card companies.
- Scammers enjoy holiday down time. This year, April 4 (Easter and a Sunday), had the lowest scam volume of the year. And while the six weeks leading up to Christmas are historically the busiest time of the year for scam volume, call volume typically drops off sharply starting December 23.
- Scammers target some areas of the USA more than others. Texas, Florida, Arizona and Georgia had the highest volume of calls identified as Scam Likely. The top metro area was Dallas/Fort Worth with the 214, 832, 210 and 817 area codes being the top four targeted in the country.