Shedding Light on Scam Calls in the U.S.

SHEDDING LIGHT ON SCAM CALLS IN THE U.S. 17.6 MILLION AMERICANS LOST AN ESTIMATED $8.6 BILLION in the past 12 months via fraud conducted over the phone (mobile and landline) That's about 1 in every 14 U.S. adults Among victims, the average lost was $488.80 This breaks down to an average of $35.60 for each U.S. adult. 49% 36% Of those who lost money in a phone scam, nearly half (49%) reported losing money via a mobile phone scam compared to 36% who reported losing money on a home phone/landline. 1/5 MAY JUN of U.S. smartphone owners do nothing to protect themselves from phone fraud AUG BILL 1/3 don't check their phone bill even after a suspicious or suspected scam call 11 37% WOMEN who have received calls from unknown callers/spammers on a smartphone in the past 12 months VS 29% are more likely than men to never check their phone bill after receiving one of these calls. Of those who had checked their phone bills after getting a suspicious call, approximately 4 out of 10 (37 percent) found fraudulent charges PHONE BILL PHONE BILL PHONE BILL PHONE BILL PHONE BILL PHONE BILL PHONE BILL PHONE BILL PHONE BILL PHONE BILL WHO IS BEING TARGETED? 71% 29% Men are more than twice as likely to be the victim of a phone scam Male smartphone owners indicated a higher average of unknown or suspicious calls per year 22 CALLS 18 CALLS How ARE SMARTPHONE OWNERS PROTECTING THEMSELVES? 64% 20% never answer a call from do nothing an unknown number 16% 31% use a caller ID app (different from what their smartphone came with) search online for suspicious numbers before returning calls 4% do something else Two surveys were conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Truecaller via its Quick Query omnibus product. The first one was conducted June 9 and 11, 2014 among 2,059 adults aged 18 and older. The next was conducted from July 18-22, 2014 among 2,040 adults ages 18 and older. truecaller http://www.truecaller.com