The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported on the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry statistics for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, along with data on consumer complaints about unwanted telemarketing calls.
During the last fiscal year (October 1, 2020, through September 30, 2021), almost 3 million people signed up with the DNC Registry, bumping the total number to 244.3 million actively registered numbers, according to the FTC’s Data Book.
The number of consumer complaints about unwanted telemarketing calls also increased in FY 2021, jumping to 5 million, up from 4 million in FY 2020. FY 2021’s total is in line with those of previous years, the FTC noted, following FY 2020’s significant decline.
Of the complaints, the majority—68 percent, or 3.4 million complaints—concerned robocalls, while roughly 22 percent were about live telemarketing, the FTC said. The most common complaints about robocalls: imposters (with 496,000 complaints received) falsely posing as government representatives or legitimate business entities; warranties and protection plans (racking up 412,000 complaints); debt reduction (over 141,000 complaints); medical and prescription issues (almost 80,000 complaints); and computers and tech support (67,147 complaints).
The busiest month for complaints was March, with a total of 522,618 complaints; September had the least, with 349,190 complaints.
The FTC also provided state-specific data. New Hampshire sits at the top of the list in active DNC registrations per 100,000 individuals, followed by Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine and New Jersey. Alaska took the last spot. States that reported the most complaints were Maryland, Delaware, Arizona, Colorado and Virginia, while North Dakota registrants complained the least.
To read the FTC’s FY 2021 Data Book, click here.
Why it matters: After a down year in complaints in 2020 (likely a result of the COVID-19 pandemic), complaints to the FTC about telemarketing calls made to numbers on the DNC Registry increased yet again in 2021, this time reaching 5 million. The numbers registered with the agency also increased, with registrants now at approximately 244.3 million.