Meet NH's Most Annoying Robocallers

There’s nothing worse than seeing your phone buzz, picking up and realizing it's a robocall, where someone is trying to dupe you into giving up your bank and credit card information. With tax season coming up, you can expect even more of those calls to start coming.

A record 5.2 billion robocalls were placed last month, according to YouMail’s robocall index, and 58 percent of them were scam or telemarketing calls. That includes 11.6 million robocalls in New Hampshire, an average of 9.4 for every person in the state.

Here are the top 20 robocallers in New Hampshire last month, showing the number, place of origin if known, the carrier, the caller ID and the type of call.

1.

216-810-1881
Cleveland, OH
Exiant Communications, LLC
Travel Scam
Travel Scam
2.
888-393-7162
Toll Free
Toll Free
Bill Me Later
Credit Card Debt Collector
3.
570-234-2343
Wilkes Barre, PA
MCI Metro ATS
Andrea Sheridan
Unknown Robocaller
4.
888-556-0022
Toll Free
Toll Free
Telemarketing
Telemarketing
5.
855-895-3421
Toll Free
Toll Free
+18558953421
Unknown Robocaller
6.
800-955-6600
Toll Free
Toll Free
Capital One Payments/Collections
Debt Collector
7.
972-512-3474
Dallas, TX
MCI Metro ATS
Bank/Credit Card Payment Reminder
Bank Debt Collector
8.
800-942-3767
Toll Free
Toll Free
Substitute Teacher Notification
Employment Opportunity
9.
603-965-5954
Manchester, NH
Verizon Wireless
Joshua L
Unknown Robocaller
10.
888-498-7796
Toll Free
Toll Free
Genesis FS Card Services
Credit Card Debt Collector
11.
857-277-7557
Boston, MA
365 Wireless, LLC
CREDI SOUTHWEST
Unknown Robocaller
12.
866-450-2324
Toll Free
Toll Free
Old Navy Visa
Bank/Credit Card Payment Reminder
13.
800-678-7986
Toll Free
Toll Free
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
Loan Payment Reminder
14.
205-832-6899
Birmingham, AL
Telnyx, LLC
+12058326899
Unknown Robocaller
15.
866-408-4070
Toll Free
Toll Free
Barclays Bank Debt Collection
Bank Debt Collector
16.
603-276-3697
Manchester, NH
Windstream
HAMPSHIRE NEW
Unknown Robocaller
17.
603-782-9205
Manchester, NH
Ytel
+16037829205
Unknown Robocaller
18.
262-704-8208
Milwaukee, WI
CenturyLink
Call Alert
Kohls Department Store
19.
866-477-9156
Toll Free
Toll Free
Div
Unknown Robocaller
20.
847-426-8085
Chicago, IL
Ameritech
Chase Card Services
Financial Customer Call

YouMail's index showed that residents in Baton Rouge were bombarded with robocalls last month, ranking No. 1 in the country, with a staggering 58.4 robocalls per person. Washington, D.C. residents saw the second-highest number of calls, at 51.6. Here are the 10 cities receiving the most calls per person:

1. Baton Rouge, LA — 58.4 robocalls per person
2. Washington, D.C. — 51.6 robocalls per person
3. Memphis, TN — 42.3 robocalls per person
4. Macon, GA — 37.4 robocalls per person
5. Lafayette, LA — 33.3 robocalls per person
6. Little Rock, AR — 33.3 robocalls per person
7. Birmingham, AL — 31.5 robocalls per person
8. Albany, GA — 31.5 robocalls per person
9. Las Vegas, NV — 31.2 robocalls per person
10. Shreveport, LA — 30.9 robocalls per person

YouMail says the nationwide rise coincides with a “search listing scam,” where robocallers dupe small business owners into giving up credit card information. The scammer promises to boost the business’ ranking in Google search listings.

And with more and more tax filers sending their returns to the IRS, don’t expect scam robocalls to decline anytime soon.

In fact, a new report from the data communication network company Transaction Network Services found that April 17, 2018 — Tax Day — saw more negative robocalls than any other day of the year. That month saw the highest volume of the year. The researchers noted that call spoofing — when scammers change their caller ID so they match your area code — remains the go-to tactic for bad actors. One in every 4,000 phone numbers was hijacked by a spoofer, the company found.

Bill Versen, chief product officer at the company, said consumers need to be “especially vigilant” as Tax Day approaches, and keep their guard up.

The FCC offers a few tips for those wanting to stop unwanted and illegal robocalls. Among them, don’t answer calls from unknown numbers, do not respond to questions — especially those that can be answered with “yes” — and never give out personal information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers and mother’s maiden names.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Shutterstock