Contains updated information on robocall complaints and state-by-state complaint analysis
The Federal Trade Commission today issued the National Do Not Call Registry Data Book for Fiscal Year 2018. The FTC’s National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry lets consumers choose not to receive most legal telemarketing calls. The data show that the number of active registrations on the DNC Registry has increased significantly over the past year, while the total number of consumer complaints decreased for the first time in five years.
Now in its tenth year, the Data Book contains a wealth of information about the DNC Registry for FY 2018 (from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018). The Data Book provides the most recent information available on robocall complaints, the types of calls consumers reported to the FTC, and a complete state-by-state analysis.
FY 2018 Registration and Complaint Data
According to the Data Book, at the end of FY 2018, the DNC Registry contained 235,302,818 actively registered phone numbers, up from 229,816,164 at the end of FY 2017. The number of consumer complaints about unwanted telemarketing calls significantly decreased, from 7,157,337 in FY 2017 to 5,780,172 in FY 2018.
During the past fiscal year, the FTC has continued to receive many consumer complaints about telemarketing robocalls, but this number has also decreased. In FY 2018, the Commission received 3,790,614 complaints about robocalls, compared with 4,501,960 in FY 2017. For every month in the fiscal year, robocalls—defined under FTC regulations as calls delivering a prerecorded message—made up the majority of consumer complaints about DNC violations.
Significant Changes in the FY 2018 Data
This year, consumers most frequently reported robocalls about the following complaint topics: 1) reducing debt, 2) medical and prescriptions, and 3) imposter scams. While reducing debt remains the top robocall topic, robocalls about vacations and timeshares, and warranties and protection plans, dropped out of the top three complaint topics.
With respect to state data, New Hampshire again leads the nation in active DNC registrations per capita, but the states reporting the number of complaints per capita has changed: the top three states are now Nevada (2,579 per 100,000 population), Colorado (2,552 per 100,000 population) and Arizona (2,374 per 100,000 population).
Finally, as it did last year, the FTC has developed a mini site on its website to make the information in the FY 2018 Data Book more accessible for the public, such as providing a webpage for each state. In addition, the data behind the report will be available in data files on the new website.
To make it as user-friendly as possible, the Data Book includes the following features:
- The number of DNC complaints about robocalls versus live callers.
- Information about the topics of calls reported to the FTC and gathered from the agency’s online complaint form.
- A state-by-state analysis of DNC complaints.
- The underlying data in the report is publicly available at: www.ftc.gov/donotcall-databook2018.
Information for Consumers
Information for consumers about the DNC Registry, company-specific DNC requests, and telemarketer caller ID requirements can be found on the FTC’s website, and consumers can sign up for the DNC Registry for free. Other information about robocalls and what consumers can do about them is also available. To report unwanted telemarketing calls, consumers can file a complaint at www.donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222.
The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about consumer topics and file a consumer complaint online or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357). Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, read our blogs, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.