Consumer Complaints Against Telemarketers Top 50,000

As of 8:00 a.m., November 3, 2003, consumers registered with the Do Not Call Registry filed more than 51,000 complaints against telemarketers who continue to call them. More than 33,000 telemarketing organizations have accessed the Registry, with over 650 downloading all of the area codes in the Registry. On average, telemarketers downloaded 45 area codes out of a possible 317.

The Do Not Call Registry, which opened for consumer registrations on June 27, 2003, currently contains nearly 54.3 million telephone numbers. Telemarketers began accessing the Registry on September 2, 2003, through a Web site specifically developed for telemarketers, www.telemarketing.donotcall.gov. The telemarketer site permits the user to create an organizational profile that enables them to pay for and obtain the area codes they need to remove registered numbers from their active calling lists.

For enforcement purposes, consumer complaints received into the FTC databases are made available to more than 800 law enforcement agencies, including the offices of all State Attorneys General.