The Federal Trade Commission reported Friday that complaints about unwanted calls are dropping – and they have been doing so for three straight years. Complaints of unwanted calls reported in 2024 decreased more than 50% from the complaints recorded in 2021 (5 million+ complaints in 2021 to ~2 million in 2024), according to FTC’s Do Not Call Registry Data Book. The FTC credited a “multifaced strategy,” including its coordinated enforcement action campaign with federal and state partners, known as “Operation Stop Scam Calls.”
The comprehensive Data Book reported unwanted caller data by year and month, by state, robocalls v. live callers, and type of call. In FY2024, the top 3 topics on these calls were medical and prescriptions, impostors, and reducing debt. Energy, solar & utilities was the fourth area of discussion from unwanted callers.
The Do Not Call registry, created in 2003, is a tool for consumers to add their phone numbers to tell companies they do not want their telemarketing sales calls. As of September, the registry had 254 million active registrations at donotcall.gov.
