AdminA shocking number of phone calls is simply spam, costing both businesses and consumers time and money, new research has found.
A report by spam call blocker Hiya, analyzing over 243 billion phone calls received by thousands of consumers and businesses in 2022, found that 10% of that number was spam or fraudulent.
In the US alone, spam accounts for over a third (35%) of all calls, while fraud accounts for only 0.9%. The UK fared slightly better in terms of spam calls (28%), but fraud was much more visible (13%). France recorded the most spam calls (43%).
To waste money
The report states that spam and fraud cost people and businesses time and money. In the US, consumers lost an average of $431.26 on such calls last year. Canadians lost the most money – an average of $472.87.
In terms of time, US consumers lost an average of 31.87 minutes to spam and scam calls, followed by Span (27.44 minutes), Canada (27.21 minutes), France (27.04 minutes) and the UK (23.34 minutes). minutes). Germany closes the list with a score of 22.47 minutes.
Researchers suggest that to tackle spammy and fraudulent calls, telecoms can make sure numbers are identified.
Almost all consumers (87%) believe that unidentified numbers can be fraudulent, and a third of consumers say that a spoofed and spoofed call made them suspicious of calls coming from this company. In this spirit, 63% of operators said their investments in voice call security and call protection will increase this year.
“Spam calls – including both illegal scam calls and calls related to legal nuisances – are becoming more frequent,” said Kush Parikh, president of Hiya. “Unsolicited calls undermine consumers’ trust in their favorite communication tool – the telephone – and thus make it more difficult for legitimate, trusted companies to contact them over the phone. As we examined in this report, this has very real implications for sales, customer service and other critical areas.”
