FY ’18 National Do Not Call Registry Data Book And Mini Site Released

On December 6, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it issued the National Do Not Call Registry Data Book for Fiscal Year 2018. The FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry allows consumers to choose not to receive most legal telemarketing calls. The data, according to the FTC, show that the number of active registrations on the National Do Not Call Registry (“DNC Registry”) has increased significantly over the past year, while the total number of consumer complaints decreased for the first time in five years.

The National Do Not Call Registry Data Book (“Data Book”) contains substantial information about the DNC Registry for FY 2018 (October 1, 2017-September 30, 2018). The FTC’s 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 & Complaint Data

According to the FTC’s 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.

According to the FTC, 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 FTC 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.

Reducing Debt, Medical/Prescriptions & Imposter Scams – Most Frequently Reported Robocall Complaint Topics

This year, according to the FTC, 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.

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.

Additionally, to make it as user-friendly as possible, the FTC’s 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 FTC’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.

Source: FTC.gov

Do You Believe You Are a Victim of Illegal Robocalls, Text Messages, “Junk” Faxes or Telemarketing Sales Calls?

Depending on the facts and circumstances of your case, you may be able to recover at least $500 for each illegal call, text or fax you received and, possibly, as much as $1,500 for each illegal call, text message or facsimile that was made either willfully or knowingly.

To help evaluate your potential legal claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, please complete KLF’s confidential Robocall Questionnaire or, if you prefer to speak with an attorney, please complete the form above on the right, e-mail [email protected] or contact Michael Yarnoff, Esq., [email protected], (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, for a free, no-obligation evaluation of your potential legal rights.

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.