National Do Not Call Registry Gets 4 Million More Phone Numbers

Consumers have registered more than 4 million phone numbers in the Federal Trade Commission’s Do Not Call registry since last year, the agency announced.

The registry, which lets consumers opt out of receiving telemarketing calls, contained 239.5 million registered phone numbers at the end of fiscal 2019, up from 235.3 million in fiscal 2018, the FTC said in an annual report.

The agency said it received 5.4 million consumer complaints about unwanted calls this year, down from 5.8 million complaints in 2018. The agency said the decrease reflects its inability to accept complaints during the 35-day partial government shutdown earlier this year.

The most reported complaint involved robocall imposter scams, followed by calls about medical issues and prescriptions, the FTC said. Last year, the most reported complaint involved calls about debt-reduction programs, the agency said.