Washington Post – Here’s how to protect yourself. “If there has been any upside to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s that robocalls practically stopped for a time. Unfortunately, the ringing has returned. On average, the American public fields about 5 billion spam calls per month, according to call-blocker app RoboKiller. However, the company noticed a 40 percent drop in April compared with January. Nomorobo, which tracks calls to its users, reports a similar dip, catching 44.9 million robocalls in January but 23.7 million in April The reason: empty call centers. “Sophisticated criminals can push out billions of automated calls, but they need a human being to answer and get your personal information if you fall for the scam. Call centers around the world closed in April and May during the height of covid-19,” says Aaron Foss, founder of Nomorobo. Now that shutdowns have been lifted or these massive operations have transitioned to at-home workers, calls have returned to January levels. And we’re not only being bombarded by phone calls, but also by bogus emails and text messages…”