The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released its National Do Not Call Registry Data Book for Fiscal Year 2024, revealing a significant drop in consumer reports about unwanted calls. The complaint volume has decreased by more than half since 2021, marking the third consecutive year of decline.
In an effort to tackle unwanted calls, the FTC launched Operation Stop Scam Calls in 2023, which was the largest crackdown on illegal telemarketing in its history. This year, the agency introduced a rule prohibiting impersonation of government or business entities and expanded the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) to protect businesses from illegal telemarketing. The FTC is also addressing emerging threats like voice cloning through initiatives such as the Voice Cloning Challenge and clarifying that AI-enabled scam calls are covered under TSR.
Sam Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, stated: “Illegal calls remain a scourge, but the FTC’s strategy to pursue upstream players and equip the agency to confront emerging threats is showing clear signs of success. In the years to come, it will be critical we continue this progress by confronting not only telemarketers but those firms who knowingly profit from scam calls.”
Now in its 16th year, the data book provides recent fiscal year information on robocall complaints and types of calls reported to the FTC. Unwanted calls about medical and prescription issues were most frequently reported, with over 170,000 complaints received during the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024.
The National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry allows consumers to opt-out of most legal telemarketing calls. Over 4.2 million people registered last fiscal year, increasing active registrations to more than 253 million phone numbers.
Overall complaints about unwanted calls declined by more than 33,000 from FY 2023. However, complaints related to debt reduction saw an increase of over 85 percent from last year. Robocall complaints fell to 1.1 million in FY 2024 from 1.2 million in FY 2023 and over 3.4 million in FY 2021.
Imposter-related reports were the second-most common complaint topic with over 158,000 filed complaints. Debt reduction followed as the third-most reported issue along with energy-related scams and home improvement frauds.
The new Impersonation Rule targets government imposters and those misrepresenting affiliations with legitimate businesses.
New Hampshire leads in active DNC registrations per capita while Delaware, Ohio, Arizona, Illinois, and North Carolina reported the most DNC complaints per capita.
Data from this report is available on the FTC’s website along with information for consumers about managing unwanted calls. Consumers can register for free on www.donotcall.gov or report unsolicited telemarketing at this site or by calling a dedicated number.
Paul Witt from the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection is noted as a primary staffer on this report.
The FTC continues its mission to promote competition while protecting consumers against frauds and scams without demanding money or making false promises.
