TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Robocalls are a nuisance no one enjoys, and if it seems like they’re becoming more frequent that’s because they are.

Nearly half the calls made from cell phones in the United States during 2019 were spam, according to a report from the Federal Communications Commission.

Using data from the Federal Trade Commission’s National Do Not Call Registry, Provision Living analyzed robocall complaints in every state and visualized the data per capita.

In that data, researchers found that Florida residents filed 354,315 robocall complaints last year, making it the No. 18 state with the most robocalls per capita.

Since 2015, Florida has seen a 16 percent increase in robocalls— higher than the national average of 14 percent.

Most of Florida’s robocalls since 2015 have included debt reduction, medical and prescription calls, and imposters.

Last October, 8 On Your Side reported that adding those unreported robocalls, brought the number to around 48 billion robocalls were received nationally in 2019.

According to the FTC, the commission received nearly 73,000 in the first six months of 2019, equaling more than $17 million in losses across the country.

That means Floridians received an average of 17 robocalls per person last August.

“Imposter scams are the top category for fraud in Florida, accounting for more than 18,000 reports through the second quarter this year with reported losses of over $32 million,” said Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Partronis.  

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