American consumers and businesses were overwhelmed by an estimated 29.3 billion robocalls in 2016, based on the YouMail Robocall Index (www.robocallindex.com), the nation's first guide that compiles the scope and location of the worst robocalling hotspots across the country by area code.  

This news marks the first time that any source has tracked the nation's collective robocall problem over an entire calendar year. In 2016:

° U.S. phones were inundated by an estimated 2.4 billion monthly robocalls, which equals 79.6 million daily robocalls on average, or 921 robocalls for every second of the year.

° Five major cities were blitzed by more than one billion robocalls each, including Atlanta, Dallas, New York, Chicago and Houston.

° The 15 most egregious robocalling numbers for the year were controlled by debt collectors for banks, phone companies, cable firms or retailers.

° The country's single most active robocalling line was controlled by a bank debt collector that placed some 306.2 million calls.

° Columbus, Ohio, earned the dubious distinction as the American city placing the most robocalls for the full year, with some 771.3 million outbound calls made in 2016.

YouMail provides iPhone and Android apps that act like an automated virtual assistant to replace the mobile voicemail service of its users.