Have you gotten a call from an imposter, maybe someone pretending to be with the Social Security Administration, IRS, or a tech support company, this year? If so, you’re not alone. Calls from imposters were the most-reported topic of unwanted calls to the FTC over the past year (FY2019).
You can see our annual report on Do Not Call complaints, with state-specific data. But here are some key takeaways:
Find out more about what’s happening in your state. But remember — you don’t need to wait for our annual report to know what’s happening. As we told you this summer, the FTC’s Do Not Call data is now available in an interactive format at ftc.gov/exploredata, and is updated quarterly.
The FTC continues to go after the companies and scammers behind these calls, so please keep reporting unwanted calls at donotcall.gov (or, if you’ve lost money to a scam call, at ftc.gov/complaint instead). We take the phone numbers you report and release them to the public each business day, which helps phone carriers and other partners that are working on call-blocking and call-labeling solutions. Your reports also help law enforcement identify the people behind illegal calls.
To find out more about how to get fewer calls and avoid scams, check out the articles, videos, and infographics at ftc.gov/calls, and share them with your family and friends.
Search Terms Comments have been turned off for this consumer alert.It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC’s computer user records system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC’s Privacy Act system notices. For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy.
The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.
We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.
resident. October 17, 2019Ftc you need to push real business like medical office , hospital, nys attorney general etc if they call you or reply your call they must not show unknow, or whatever that make it look like its a robocall or scam that make us don’t pick up and file their call whichnis real and important into do not call. These are opps important call to us and we did not pick up because caller id show it look like robocall. Please do something to work around real important calls that comes over looking like robocall. Thanks
Dan SwiatekDon… October 20, 2019In reply to Ftc you need to push real by resident.
We agree with your statement. You can say it is a law in the house unless we know you or your company or you do not speak we do not answer. If we see your number more than once you are put on our do not call lust. I also believe that the ftc should hold the telephone companies partially responsible since most of the numbers listed for the calls are discontinue or vacant numbers,
BevWms October 17, 2019Our land line and our cell numbers have been registered several years yet we still receive multiple robocalls and scam calls and texts every day. Do you have any other suggestions/advice?
FTC Staff October 17, 2019You may want to read this article about blocking unwanted calls. It tells how to block calls from mobile and landline phones, and from service that comes over the internet (VoIP). This one-minute video shows how to block calls on your home phone.
jsl October 18, 2019In reply to You may want to read this by FTC Staff
Here's a problem I found when blocking calls - the number they use isn't always the real number the call is coming from. I have tried calling the number, when I knew the number was a cell number issued by Verizon and got a message that the number was "Disconnected or No Longer In Service". That indicates to me that they are forwarding their Robocalls to an invalid number to be sent from that number so we can't actually block them. We can go through the motions of blocking them, but it really does nothing.
Carl Bowles October 18, 2019 Thanks for the update I will be on guard robo callers are endlessly creative. ARMom November 11, 2019At this rate, as much as my husband & I are blocked the fake numbers (even aware of tactic), no one who ever legitimately uses the numbers will never contact us. They literally call us at the same time & we can speaker chorus them.
addressee October 19, 2019 Me too! I register again.. after too many calls. senior2825 October 17, 2019I've been registered with Do Not Call for over a dozen years. I do not know why the registry does not work, but it does not work. I still get between 4 and 10 calls a day from dealers trying to sell senior oriented services, house or car services and financial services. Apparently these types of businesses are not included in the registry. it does do good to tell the FCC or the IL States Attorney because they spoof calls. Congress could care less. Stop spending tax money on this registry. It does not work.
FTC Staff October 17, 2019In reply to I've been registered with Do by senior2825
The National Do Not Call Registry was created to stop unwanted sales calls from real companies. The Registry is a list that tells companies the numbers they should not call. The FTC does not and cannot block calls. The Registry can’t stop calls from scammers who ignore the Registry.
If your phone number is on the Registry and you're getting a lot of unwanted calls, the calls are probably from scammers.
ConcordT October 17, 2019In reply to I've been registered with Do by senior2825
The DNC List is ineffective handling calls originating out of the country - which are many. VOIP calls can originate from anywhere in the world.
Randall October 17, 2019I receive Multiple call all day long, my greeting spells out THIS IS A do not call registered number, DO NOT CALL, they leave messages, anyway, suggesting or threatening, and I report them, that does not seem to help deter the callers, are they stooped or Brain Dead ? I don't know what the answer is.
Laura Tils October 17, 2019It would be great if phones had a feature to flag spam - similar to email’s feature. i’ve got literally hundreds of blocked phone numbers. i’d be willing to provide those numbers to carriers so they could shut them down and / identify & penalize the owner!
Benician resident October 17, 2019Last time I reported a caller, it took about 1/2 hour. The form had too many questions. Besides that, until we eliminate caller-ID spoofing, what good does it do to report the calling number? I understand that there is something in the works that will eliminate Caller-ID spoofing. As I recall, it was supposed to be implemented by the end of this year. That needs to happen!
FTC Staff October 17, 2019In reply to Last time I reported a caller by Benician resident
There's a quick way to report unwanted calls at DoNotCall.gov.
The only information you have to give is:
You can choose to give more information of course, and that can help law enforcement, even if the call came from a spoofed phone number.
Sometimes the FTC and other law enforcement agencies can still trace a call based on information you provide. Your complaint helps because the FTC analyzes complaint data and trends to identify illegal callers based on calling patterns. We use additional information you report, like the number you're told to call back, to track down scammers
A quiet man in… October 17, 2019I'd rather you worked with ISPs and carriers to ban spoofing numbers and register allowed numbers only (medical appointments reminders and similar useful calls). It is much easier to allow specified callers and block all others than play whack a mole with spammers and extra-territorial robocallers.
itaylo01 October 17, 2019Can a legal decree be issued to stop people from calling our phones? It is ridiculous the number of calls I get in one day, and I do not know the people nor have I done business with them. I have been home sick in the bed and this is more annoying when one is not well. You finally fall asleep and are resting, soon to be awakened by someone you do not know.
FTC Staff October 17, 2019There are ways for you to block calls. Read about how to block unwanted calls on a mobile phone, landline phone or if you get phone service over the internet (VoIP). You might be able to send all calls to voice mail, or to create a list of the only numbers that may ring through to you.
michellesh October 17, 2019I appreciate the helpful emails you send out weekly keeping the public informed on the latest scams! Great Job!
