FTC Releases FY 2018 National Do Not Call Registry Data Book

The FTC recently issued their National Do Not Call Registry Data Book (Data Book), which gives an overview of the National Do Not Call Registry (DNC Registry) and consumer complaints the FTC received from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018 (FY 2018).  The Data Book also contains statistical data about the types of complaints consumers submit to the FTC and includes a state-by-state breakdown of DNC Registry registrations and complaints.

Some of the highlights from the Data Book include:

• The DNC Registry contained 235,302,818 actively registered phone numbers at the end of FY 2018, an increase compared to the previous year.
• In FY 2018, there were 5,780,172 consumer complaints reported to the FTC, down significantly from the 7,157,337 complaints reported in the prior year.
• The majority of consumer complaints involved robocalls (i.e., calls delivering a prerecorded message).
• For the second year in a row, robocalls concerning consumer debt remained the most frequently reported topic, followed by calls regarding medical and prescriptions, and imposter scams.
• Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona were ranked the top states for DNC Registry complaints per 100k population, respectively.

The underlying data in the Data Book can also be found on a new “mini site” the FTC developed for its website.

The FTC press release announcing the release of the Data Book is available here.