WASHINGTON — It's an annoyance that strikes many. You're in the middle of doing something important when your phone rings, only to discover that it's not anyone you know. It's a robocall. But according to one new study, those living in Maryland have a higher chance of getting those calls than any state in the nation.
Using call frequency data and robocall complaints from the Federal Trade Commission, cellphone research and publishing group LetsTalk found out what states received the most robocalls for 2019.
The top of the list? Good ol' Maryland, with a striking average of 18 robocalls a month. Virginia isn't too far down on the list either at number four.
Alaska suffered the least, with an average of only 3.3 robocalls a month. The other nine states with the peskiest calls are in order: North Dakota, Colorado, Delaware, New Jersey, Arizona, West Virginia, Missouri, Virginia, Maine and Oregon.
So, what did the study consider a robocall? While most of the calls fell into the category of spam -- almost half, at 47.5% -- other calls consisted of alerts and payment reminders, followed by 11.3% of telemarketing.
While the spam calls may be plentiful, they may soon be slowing down.
President Donald Trump signed a new anti-robocall law into effect on Jan. 6, barring phone companies from charging consumers for blocking the robocalls. The new initiative -- dubbed the TRACED Act -- attempts to limit fraud by making phone companies ensure that the numbers are from that of a registered business or resident, and fining them up to $10,000 if not.
Until then, get your fingers on the block button.
