Are You On The Do Not Call List?

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued The National Do Not Call Registry Data Book for FY 2011 in mid-November. 2011. The FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry provides consumers with an easy way to stop unwanted telemarketing calls.

According to this Data Book, at the end of Fiscal Year 2011 (September 30, 2011), the Do Not Call Registry contained 209,722,924 actively registered phone numbers, up from 201,542,535 at the end of Fiscal Year 2010, or a 4/1 percent increase. In addition, the number of consumer complaints about unwanted telemarketing calls increased from 1,633,819 at the end of Fiscal Year 2010 to 2,272,662 at the end of Fiscal Year 2011, which was a 39.1 percent increase.

The 2011 Data Book also reveals trends in complaint data. In addition to providing information on the total number of consumer complaints per month, it also contains data on the number of monthly complaints specifically related to pre-recorded telemarketing “robocalls,” and requests for a telemarketer to stop calling.

While the number of consumer complaints about recorded messages used in telemarketing hit a low of 79,592 in April 2011, for example, the data show that the number of complaints about such calls have increased consistently since then, reaching 140,503 in September 2011. Most telemarketing robocalls have been illegal since September 2009. The FTC remains committed to stopping deceptive, misleading, and otherwise unlawful robocalls, and will take action against entities violating the agency’s Telemarketing Sales Rule.

FTC Warns Consumers About Scammers

The Federal Trade Commission wants consumers to know that scammers recently have been making phone calls claiming to represent the National Do Not Call Registry. The callers offer to provide an opportunity to sign up for the Registry. These calls are not coming from the Registry or the FTC, however, and consumers should not respond to them.

To add a number to the Registry for free at any time, consumers can call toll-free 1-888-382-1222 from the phone they wish to register, or go to www.donotcall.gov to sign up.

Credit Reporting Expert, John Ulzheimer, is the President of Consumer Education at SmartCredit.com, the credit blogger for Mint.com, and a Contributor for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.  He is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring and identity theft. Formerly of FICO, Equifax and Credit.com, John is the only recognized credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry.  Follow him on Twitter here.

Categorised in: Civil Penalty, Government

This post was written by John Ulzheimer