Number of robocalls finally declining

Government agencies, service providers have stepped up their blocking efforts

While still unbearably high, the number of robocalls plaguing U.S. and South Florida cellphone owners is declining amid stepped up enforcement and blocking efforts by government agencies and service providers.

YouMail, a robocall blocking service, said Americans received 4.4 billion of the unwanted calls in June. That’s the third-straight decline since March, when consumers dealt with an estimated 5.23 billion calls — an all-time high.

The declines were triggered by large decreases in scam and telemarketing robocalls, according to a statement by YouMail.

“This three-month decline in robocall volumes is a positive development,” said YouMail CEO Alex Quilici. “However, we have already exceeded 29 billion robocalls so far this year, which is still nearly 90 calls per person in the U.S.”

YouMail’s reports are based on numbers projections of calls flagged by its blocking They include robocalls and landlines, said.

Robocall totals are trending lower in South Florida as well. June’s totals were the lowest since April 2018 and markedly lower than the all-time highs set in November in the 954, 561 and 305 area codes.

Consumers in the 954 area code received 42.8 million calls in June — 43 percent fewer than the record high of 61.1 million set eight months earlier.

In Palm Beach County, June’s 24.9 million total was 21 percent fewer than the all-time high of 31.6 million. service. to cellphones Quilici

And the 32.2 million robocalls made to Miami-Dade County’s 305 area code was 25.5 percent below the previous high of 43.2 million.

Telecommunications carriers and the federal government have stepped up their fight against robocalls in recent months.

In June, the Federal Communications Commission ruled that cellphone carriers may block nuisance calls by default, rather than requiring consumers to opt in to blocking services. The agency also required carriers to verify at the network level whether calls are legitimate — and either stop bogus calls or alert customers about them.

AT&T, the nation’s leading carrier, on Wednesday became the first carrier to announce plans to automatically block suspected spam calls. Its customers don’t have to wait, however. They can download and install the company’s free call blocking app right now.

Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint have rolled out similar services.

Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission has been using its civil enforcement muscle to shut down telemarketing scammers.

In March, the agency said it permanently shut down four operations, including one in Boca Raton, responsible for billions of robocalls.