In the first six months of 2024, Hiya, a leading call-blocking and spam protection service, raised concerns as it identified close to 20 billion calls as suspected spam, averaging over 107 million spam calls daily. This alarming data highlighted a significant increase in spam flag rates, exceeding 20% for unknown calls in 25 out of 42 countries, with some countries experiencing spam flag rates surpassing 50%.
With the proliferation of advanced technologies, AI deepfake scams emerged as a growing threat during the first half of 2024. These scams utilize AI-generated voice-cloning technology to impersonate individuals or organizations. An instance of this malicious activity was witnessed in New Hampshire, where voters received robocalls ahead of the primary election impersonating Joe Biden using an AI-generated voice.
Experts in the field anticipate a rise in the use of voice-cloning impersonation scam tactics as AI tools become more sophisticated and easily accessible. This trend is expected to continue not only in 2024 but also in the foreseeable future.
The United States faced its fair share of telecommunication scams, with Americans receiving an average of 14 spam calls per month in the first half of 2024. The spam flag rate varied from state to state, with states like Oklahoma, Indiana, and Ohio reporting the highest spam rates, while Alaska, New York, and North Dakota had the lowest incidence of spam calls. Health insurance and Medicare scams were prevalent during this period, followed by other insurance scams such as auto, home, and life insurance. Tax scams also surged leading up to the tax filing deadline on April 15.
In Europe, France and Spain continued to battle a high volume of spam calls for the past seven quarters, with more than half of all unknown calls in these countries being unwanted. France reported a spam flag rate of 53%, while Spain’s rate stood at 51%. Spanish residents faced a higher proportion of fraud calls compared to their French counterparts, with utility and mobile phone sales scams being the most commonly reported. France, on the other hand, faced utility-related scams involving electricity suppliers and solar energy, as well as telemarketing calls and package delivery scams.
The United Kingdom witnessed a spam flag rate of 28% for all unknown calls in the first half of 2024, with tax agency and Amazon scams being prevalent. Other scams targeting UK residents included credit card scams, cryptocurrency scams, and energy-related scams. In Brazil, citizens received the highest number of spam calls globally, averaging at 26 spam calls per month. The most common phone scam in Brazil was banking scams, where scammers impersonated banks to extract personal information and passwords from unsuspecting victims.
In Canada, while the average monthly spam calls per person were relatively low at 4, 7% of these calls were identified as fraud. Amazon scams were the most widespread scam targeting Canadians, followed by impersonation scams involving government officials, credit card scams, and cryptocurrency scams.
Kush Parikh, President of Hiya, emphasized the escalating threats posed by phone fraud, spam, and deepfake voice scams driven by AI technology. He stressed the importance of integrating voice security into cybersecurity strategies to protect enterprises from vulnerabilities in the voice channel. The need for vigilance and proactive measures in safeguarding against these evolving threats is crucial for all phone users across major markets.