How widespread are spam calls here in Illinois and throughout the country? Think about this for a second: over the last year, nearly 60 million Americans say that they lost money as a result of being phone-scammed, for a nationwide total of almost $30 billion.

According to a report at TrueCaller.blog, of those who lost money, the average loss was $502.

My caller ID doesn't ever say that. (Getty Images)
My caller ID doesn't ever say that. (Getty Images)
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His doesn't either. (Getty Images)
His doesn't either. (Getty Images)
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Illinois Doesn't Lead The Nation In Spam Calls, But We Still Get Way Too Many

Pennsylvania is the state that draws the most spam calls in the country, with the average Pennsylvanian getting almost 31 unwanted spam or scam attempts per week, according to research published at Time2Play.com.

Trailing closely are New Jersey (30), Texas (29), and Oklahoma (28). Twelve other states, including Arizona (27), Colorado (27), Georgia (26), and Florida (25), get more than three spam calls per day.

Seems like a totally natural, completely un-posed photo. (Getty Images)
Seems like a totally natural, completely un-posed photo. Everyone uses their phone like that. Don't answer it, sir. It's a robo-call.(Getty Images)
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It's Things Like This That Really Encourage People Not To Answer Their Phones

The average Illinois resident isn't getting hammered with scam calls as much as the states mentioned above, but with an average of 2.6 calls per day, or 18.2 calls per week, it's pretty clear that call scammers aren't exactly ignoring us here in the Land of Lincoln.

"Why does no one ever call me?" (Getty Images)
"Why does no one ever call me?" Might be the shirt. (Getty Images)
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Before We Wrap Things Up...

Here's something else to consider. If you were to guess, who do you think gets successfully phone-scammed more, men or women?

According to the TrueCaller.blog report, it's men (59.4%) who get taken more than women (38.3%).

Most of the expert advice I've read on this topic says that there's one really simple way to avoid being scammed via phone: if you don't know who it is, let it go to voicemail, and move on from there.

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