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(NEXSTAR) – Is your phone getting lots of random calls lately? You’re not alone. Americans received an estimated 4.4 billion robocalls in July — the highest robocall volume in a year, according to tracking by YouMail.
The volume of spam robocalls reached a low in October 2025, but have been creeping up in recent months, the call screening app has seen in its data. Telemarketing and scams made up the largest proportion of robocalls in July, YouMail said.
Some robocalls are legitimate — like appointment or payment reminders. But the flood of incoming calls from unknown numbers can make it hard to tell.
The most common type of call in July was a pre-approved loan offer, YouMail said. If you answered one of those, you may have been told you qualified for a massive personal loan with low monthly payments.
“As with similar campaigns, this appears to be at a minimum, illegal telemarketing at scale. Based on consumer reports and the behavior of the calls, it’s likely to be a scam,” YouMail said in its July report.
The volume of robocalls increased nationwide, but certain area codes were hit hardest. Data shared with Nexstar found numbers with area codes tracing back to Texas, Georgia and Indiana received the biggest spike in robocalls last month.
The area codes with the biggest increase in robocalls in July 2026 were:
RankArea codeCityStateTotal calls% Change month-over-month1. 346HoustonTX16,196,10019%2. 470AtlantaGA20,186,60013%2. 229AlbanyGA32,103,90013%4. 765IndianapolisIN17,274,00012%5. 901MemphisTN47,380,50011%5.812EvansvilleIN25,028,60011%5. 720DenverCO17,654,10011%8.870JonesboroAR32,240,4009%8.317IndianapolisIN24,871,6009%8.931ClarksvilleTN22,028,0009%8.254KilleenTX19,345,1009%YouMail CEO Alex Quilici said that despite changes by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in recent years, spammers are still finding ways to get through.
“We suspect the fraudsters are getting on the telephone networks at scale through a set of carriers that are benefiting from this illegal call traffic,” Quilici told Nexstar. “There are more barriers to that now, but it doesn’t take a lot of bad actors to generate meaningful volumes.”
A bill passed in the Senate hopes to reduce robocalls even more by cracking down on the ones that are coming in from outside the country.
In a press release touting the legislation, Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who cosponsored the bill, said “folks in red and blue states alike are sick and tired of picking up the phone and wondering if they’re being scammed.”
Putting your name on the national Do Not Call Registry can limit the number of telemarketing calls you get, but it doesn’t keep everyone from contacting you.
When you’re not sure if a call is legitimate or not, experts advise you don’t pick up. You can let the call go to voicemail and if you need to contact your bank, utility company or health insurance, make sure to always use the number from your card or latest statement.
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