These states can't catch a break from robocalls and message spam
Just last year alone, Americans received roughly 53 billion robocalls, with the number of spam messages being even higher, according to PeopleFinders, a data-as-a-service (DaaS) provider.
With these numbers seemingly increasing by the year, 51 of the U.S.'s 56 attorneys general have joined a multistate effort called Operation Robocall Roundup, led by the Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force, in hopes of putting a stop to illegal robocalls.
The group has sent warning letters to 37 different voice providers directing them to comply with federal law and stop illegal robocalls from being routed through their networks.
51 attorneys general launch effort to crack down on robocalls
The frequency of these calls has begun to rise more and more in small cities, in particular. Southfield, Michigan, with a population of just over 76,000 people, saw the largest year-over-year jump in robocalls in the country at 151%.
A state-by-state analysis appears to be on par with this as well. The state with the highest robocall complaint rate per capita is Delaware, with 885 complaints for every 100,000 people in the state, according to PeopleFinders.
Not far behind is Ohio with a complaint rate of 849, followed by Arizona with 819.
Here are the top five states with the highest robocall complaint rate in the U.S., according to PeopleFinders.
Delaware – 885
Ohio – 849
Arizona – 813
Illinois – 801
North Carolina – 778
As for message spam, or ' smishing, ' it appears it's happening in high volumes in states with much larger cities — states like California and Texas, in particular.
Other states have seen a significant rise in message spam and robocalls since 2023, including West Virginia, Florida, Arizona, and Oklahoma, according to PeopleFinders.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
4 hours ago
- Forbes
Target Sued In Two Class Actions Over Gift Card Scams
Scammers are big fans of gift cards because they are easy to purchase, easy to send to the scammer and impossible to trace. It is not even necessary for the scammer to be in possession of the actual gift card to use it. Sending the gift card numbers or taking a picture on your phone and transmitting it to the scammer is sufficient for the scammer to use the gift card to buy things that can then be sold and converted into cash. In many instances scammers pose as large companies or government agencies such as the IRS demanding payments. This is called an "imposter scam.' According to the FTC, in 2024 Americans lost $2.95 to imposter scams, second only to investment fraud. In 2021 the FTC noted that Target gift cards were the most popular choice for scammers with scammers asking specifically for Target gift cards in twice as many instances as the next most popular gift card and even when the gift card requested by the scammers was not a Target gift card, the scammers asked their victims to purchase the particular gift cards at a Target store. More recent data of the FTC indicates that Target gift cards were the second most popular gift card of scammers with Apple gift cards being most used by scammers. Recently four victims of the imposter scam sued Target seeking class action status alleging that Target failed to use its own security algorithms and real-time tracking software to prevent these scams. The plaintiffs further allege that Target benefited financially from gift card scams. Responding to the lawsuit a Target spokesperson said 'While we cannot comment on pending litigation, we take significant steps to combat this type of criminal activity and protect consumers.' One of the plaintiffs, Robert Reese received an email from a scammer posing as an Amazon customer service representative who convinced him he needed to send Amazon $10,800 in gift cards, instructing him to get $6,000 of that amount from Target through the purchase of twelve $500 gift cards. HOW TO AVOID GIFT CARD SCAMS Fortunately, scams requiring payment through gift cards are easy to avoid. Anytime anyone approaches you with a business transaction in which you are asked to pay through gift cards, you can be confident that it is a scam. The IRS even posts on its website that it does not accept gift cards as payments. An important thing to remember is that gift cards are gifts, they are not used as a payment method for any legitimate transaction so if you are asked to pay for any business transaction through a gift card, you can be sure it is a scam. Target has also been sued in a class action regarding gift card scams by customers from 21 states who bought Apple gift cards at Target that had been tampered with by scammers that resulted in the scammers emptying the gift cards of their value. The plaintiffs allege that Target is aware of this problem and has not done enough to stop it. This type of scam is called gift card draining. The most common way gift card draining occurs involves scammers going to racks of gift cards in stores and, using handheld scanners, read the code on the strip of the card and the number on the front. They then put the card back in the display and periodically check with the retailer by calling its 800 number to find out whether the card has been activated and what the balance is on the card. Once they have this information, they either create a counterfeit card using the information they have stolen or order merchandise online without having the actual card in hand. Another common way gift card draining occurs is when scammers place a sticker with the barcode of a gift card that the scammers possess over the actual barcode of the gift card in the rack. Thus, when the card is taken by the gift card purchaser to the checkout counter to have the card activated, the funds used to purchase the gift card are credited to the card of the scammer. It is not until the gift card purchaser tries to use his or her card that it is discovered that there are no funds credited to the card. Some retailers, to reduce gift card fraud put a PIN on the gift card so that if the card is used online, the user must have access to the PIN which is generally covered and must have the covering material scratched off in order to be visible. Unfortunately, many purchasers of gift cards are not aware of this, so they don't even notice that the PIN on the card that they are purchasing has already had covering material scratched off by the scammer who has recorded the PIN. HOW TO AVOID GIFT CARD DRAINING As with so many scams, the best place to look for a helping hand is at the end of your own arm. Always inspect the card carefully to make sure that the barcode has not been tampered with in any fashion and that the PIN is still covered and when buying a gift card, only purchase cards from behind the customer service desk. If the card is preloaded, always ask for the card to be scanned to show that it is still fully valued.
CNBC
8 hours ago
- CNBC
Bondi backs off initial order to take over D.C. police, issues new directive that keeps chief in place
WASHINGTON — Washington, D.C.'s police chief is the force's top official once again, after the Trump administration rescinded an order that stripped her of power less than a day after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued it. As part of an agreement struck Friday between attorneys from the Department of Justice and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb's office, Drug Enforcement Administration Chief Terry Cole will now be considered Bondi's "designee," instead of the emergency police chief, a position Bondi sought in her original order that claimed federal control of the department. The agreement allows Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith to maintain control of the day-to-day operations of her department, while taking orders from Mayor Muriel Bowser. In a new order Bondi issued Friday evening, the Department of Justice directed Bowser to order the police department to assist in immigration enforcement operations and to comply with database inquiries and requests for information from any federal law enforcement entity. This effectively strips Washington, D.C., of its "sanctuary city" status. But in a news conference after Friday's hearing in federal court, Schwalb, who had filed a lawsuit challenging the administration's police takeover, took a victory lap. "The key for today is to know that our effort to avoid a hostile takeover of our police force is not going to happen," he told reporters. "Chief Smith remains in control of the police department under the supervision of our mayor." Schwalb's office argued in its lawsuit, which also challenges President Donald Trump's order from Monday, that the initial orders exceed the limits on requesting services from D.C., which it says can be done on a temporary basis only under emergency circumstances. The office sought a temporary restraining order to enjoin the Trump administration from taking over the police department, saying that D.C. would "suffer devastating and irreparable harms" if the Trump administration's efforts succeeded. "The Administration's unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call DC home," Schwalb said in a statement. "This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it." The suit said that implementing Bondi's order would "upend the entire command structure of MPD and sow chaos among the more than 3,100 officers serving the District, endangering the safety of the public and law enforcement officers alike." Smith said in a sworn declaration in support of Schwalb's suit that she had "never seen a single government action that would cause a greater threat to law and order than this dangerous directive." "If effectuated, the Bondi Order would upend the command structure of MPD, endangering the safety of the public and law enforcement officers alike," Smith said. Schwalb's office said Trump only had authority to request services for "federal purposes," and that Congress didn't grant the authority to replace D.C.'s police chief. Bowser, who had been complying with Trump's earlier directive, said in a post on social media that she agreed the initial Bondi order had gone too far. "Let us be clear about what the law requires during a Presidential declared emergency: it requires the mayor of Washington, DC to provide the services of the Metropolitan Police Department for federal purposes at the request of the President. We have followed the law," Bowser wrote on X. "In reference to the U.S. Attorney General's order, there is no statute that conveys the District's personnel authority to a federal official," she added. In his order on Monday, Trump cited several high-profile violent acts to justify his decision to deploy National Guard troops into the capital and take control of the D.C. police. Bowser pushed back on Trump's claims of out-of-control crime in Washington, saying statistics show it's substantially dropped. According to federal data released in January, violent crime in the district for 2024 was at its lowest level in more than three decades, and down 35% from the previous year. The mayor characterized Trump's moves as "unprecedented" and an "authoritarian push" earlier this week, but conceded he had the authority to issue the order. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Trump's order the "first step in stopping the violent crime that has been plaguing the streets of Washington, DC." Under the Home Rule Act, Trump has the power to federalize the D.C. police for only 30 days unless Congress approves an extension. He said on Wednesday that he plans to ask Congress for a long-term extension — but that would need support from some Democrats to pass.
USA Today
8 hours ago
- USA Today
She ignored 'scam' texts telling her she owed money. It backfired
Americans' inboxes face a daily deluge of unwanted spam. Phishing texts claiming that tolls haven't been paid or packages can't be delivered, calls from solicitors promising to erase debt, malware emails offering winnings from a sweepstakes that no one ever entered. The youngest and oldest among us, even, have developed a way to manage the sheer volume of messages, often by hitting 'delete' the moment something looks like it slipped past their spam filter. This instinct, however, comes with the risk of missing real, urgent messages, something one California resident learned the hard way. Ashley, 47, said she had been receiving texts from a number claiming to be The Toll Roads, the administrator of tolling in California, stating that the balance on her electronic toll payment method, FasTrak (similar to other systems like E-Z Pass, SunPass and TxTag), was getting low. With everyone from the federal government to the tolling agency itself advising that consumers delete phony text messages about owed tolls from their phones, she did just that. More: Toll road scam: More transportation authorities warn of fake texts in multiple states 'I assumed it was a scam and so I just kept deleting them because I was like, 'Oh, I'm not going to fall for that, I'm too smart to fall for that,'' she told USA TODAY. 'Prior to this, they had been communicating with me via email. I didn't even know that they had my phone number and so I assumed 100% it was a scam.' Ashley's reticence to click the link urging her to 'pay now' was hardly unfounded; warnings about a storm of phishing texts from scammers posing as toll authorities have been issued by agencies from the Federal Trade Commission to the FBI since January. Having received a plethora of obviously fake texts from senders claiming to be from UPS, FedEx, her bank and beyond, Ashley said she had no reason to believe these were any different. That was, until she finally got an email, reviewed by USA TODAY, with a big, bold deactivation notice. When 'scam' texts turn out to be real '[The email] said 'we've deactivated your account. You're going to be in flagrant violation if you use any of our toll roads ever again,'' Ashley said. 'And I just panicked because I use them all the time, you know.' It was then that she finally logged in, checked her account, and found it disconnected from the auto-refill feature that had previously been attached to her bank card. 'I went into my account and, indeed, it had been deactivated, it had been canceled and all of those text messages were, in fact, from them,' she said. Fortunately, she had not yet incurred a large unpaid balance of tolls and fees, but she said the idea that she could have been breaking the law or putting herself in a bad position without her knowledge troubled her. 'Anytime I get a text message that says 'you need to send money' or 'click on this link' and I don't know where it's from, I automatically delete it,' she said. 'I do wonder how businesses are going to be able to communicate with their customers via text. I'm not even sure that they can because there is so much fraud that I don't think I'm alone in not believing a text from a legitimate business.' Toll companies advise caution Michelle Kennedy, media relations manager for The Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA), which operates The Toll Roads, told USA TODAY in an email that while some account holders may receive texts about legitimate account issues, 'the majority' of text interactions reported to the agency are phishing scam-related. '[TCA] will send text messages to our accountholders ONLY if they opt in to receive messages – and only sent when we are unable to process payment on their account, replenishment amounts change or credit card expiration is nearing,' she said. Customers may also receive interactions from legitimate customer service representatives via email, phone call or physical mail. '[TCA] has several ways for customers to interact with The Toll Roads and check account status, establish accounts, manage accounts, pay tolls and resolve violations,' she said, including The Toll Roads app, statement emails and customer service phone lines and walk-in centers. How to spot a text message scam While Ashley was able to reactivate her account without paying a huge fee, an account that goes delinquent can result in hundreds and even thousands of dollars in penalties in other states. With scam attacks on iPhones and Androids surging by more than 700% in June alone, the need for caution doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon, leaving consumers with the question: how do I protect myself from malicious texts without missing real and important ones? Leyla Bilge, Global Head of Scam Research for the antivirus and cybersecurity software company Norton, has some tips. 'With scam messages growing more convincing, it's no longer enough to rely on instinct alone,' she said. 'Think of your inbox like a busy street. Some doors lead to real businesses, and others are traps. You wouldn't walk into a sketchy alley just because someone shouted your name, so treat suspicious messages the same way.' Bilge's checklist for verifying the legitimacy of a text includes a few easy-to-follow tips: 'When people understand how scams operate and feel equipped to verify messages safely, they're more likely to pause, think, and make the right call — without missing something important,' she said. 'The calmer and more confident we are, the harder it is for scammers to succeed.'
