Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Bureau of Consumer Protection: Telemarketing and Do Not Call

• The FTC released the National Do Not Call Registry Data Book for Fiscal Year 2021. The Data Book provides the most recent fiscal year information available on robocall complaints, the types of calls consumers reported to the FTC, and a complete state-by-state analysis. According to the Data Book, the FTC received 594,000 complaints about imposter calls (topping the list) during the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2021. This includes both live calls and robocalls where imposters posed as government representatives, such as the Social Security Administration, legitimate business entities, or as people affiliated with them. The Data Book also noted that three million people signed up with the FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry, bringing the total number of registrants to 244.3 million. The number of consumer complaints also increased from nearly four million in FY 2020 to over five million in FY 2021. 68% of the complaints concerned robocalls and 22% pertained to live telemarketing. The most common complaint regarding robocalls pertains to imposter calls; consumers reported more than 496,000 complaints for these types of calls.