Table of Contents
Phone calls with dubious provenance still flood the North American network. This is the main takeaway of the TNS 2025 Robocall Investigation Report. Over the past year, AI-driven scams have become more sophisticated—employing deepfake voices and disinformation that have caught many off guard. These advanced tactics built on the usual fraudulent schemes, pushing yearly losses close to $80 billion, especially during the heated run-up to the 2024 election.
AI-Driven Tactics Took Center Stage
Voice cloning, targeted phishing, and fabricated fundraising operations proliferated—not simple robocall recordings, but AI-powered calls with eerily convincing human-like voices.
Election Season Fueled Massive Spikes
Robocall volume more than doubled in the final ten days leading up to November 5 and then quadrupled in the last two, creating a perfect storm where legitimate outreach mixed with high-level scams.
Mixed STIR/SHAKEN Adoption
Major carriers have largely implemented STIR/SHAKEN, securing high verification rates. Smaller carriers, however, continue to lag behind, leaving exploitable gaps for fraudsters.
Enterprises Must Stay Vigilant
Shoring up call authentication and addressing the lag in STIR/SHAKEN adoption can help blunt these ever-evolving scams. The better prepared organizations are, the harder it is for criminals to exploit communication networks: an essential focus as AI-driven threats keep advancing.
Finally
The report also shows that the general-purpose nature of AI is becoming the dynamite of our times. In the wrong hands, it can unleash havoc on an unsuspecting consumer population, hence the need for sophisticated, multi-pronged approaches to restoring trust in caller ID.