Meet Rhode Island'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 10.8 million robocalls in New Rhode Island, an average of 10.3 for every person in the state.

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

1.
877-690-4472
Toll Free
Toll Free
Electric Bill Scam
Electric Bill Scam
2.
401-200-3017
Providence, RI
Onvoy, LLC
MKT POLICY
Unknown Robocaller
3.
877-836-5629
Toll Free
Toll Free
Citibank
Bank Debt Collector
4.
401-200-4110
Providence, RI
Onvoy, LLC
DID TEST 534
Unknown Robocaller
5.
888-423-0900
Toll Free
Toll Free
Verizon Information Line
Customer Call
6.
844-740-3086
Toll Free
Toll Free
Fingerhut
Debt Collector
7.
800-942-3767
Toll Free
Toll Free
Substitute Teacher Notification
Employment Opportunity
8.
401-444-6877
Providence, RI
Verizon Wireless
RI HOSP
Unknown Robocaller
9.
800-537-3302
Toll Free
Toll Free
First National Bank of Omaha Collections
Credit Card Debt Collector
10.
855-895-3421
Toll Free
Toll Free
+18558953421
Unknown Robocaller
11.
877-891-7854
Toll Free
Toll Free
spam
Unknown Robocaller
12.
401-409-8940
Providence, RI
Onvoy, LLC
Scam Likely
Unknown Robocaller
13.
800-955-6600
Toll Free
Toll Free
Capital One Payments/Collections
Debt Collector
14.
401-404-0147
Providence, RI
Choice One Communications, Inc.
PROVIDENCE RI N
Unknown Robocaller
15.
800-678-7986
Toll Free
Toll Free
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
Loan Payment Reminder
16.
401-456-9100
Providence, RI
Coxcom
Providence school department
Unknown Robocaller
17.
401-409-8950
Providence, RI
Onvoy, LLC
Michelle
Unknown Robocaller
18.
855-895-3382
Toll Free
Toll Free
Fingerhut
Debt Collector
19.
401-592-3083
Providence, RI
Level 3 Communications
Interest Rate Scam
Interest Rate Scam
20.
713-981-0098
Houston, TX
AT&T
Prison Inmate
Prison Call Consent

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 in January:

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