FTC Consumer Alert

Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection Office of Consumer & Business Education

Fraud on the Line:

Avoiding “Do Not Call” Scams

Have you received a call from a company inviting you to preregister for the national “Do Not 

Call” list? What about a call asking to confirm your registration on a “Do Not Call” registry? If so, 

you may be the target of a scam, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the federal 

agency that is creating the national “Do Not Call” registry. 

The FTC does not allow private companies or other third parties to register consumers for the 

registry. Websites or phone solicitors that claim they can or will register or confirm a consumer’s 

name or phone number on a national list — especially those who charge a fee — are a scam. 

Registration on the new national “Do Not Call” registry is free. The government does not call anyone 

to put them on a “Do Not Call” registry. 

According to the FTC, consumers are able to register directly with the FTC, or through some state 

governments, but never through private companies. The agency has been accepting registrations online 

and by phone. Consumers should notice a downturn in telemarketing calls about three months after 

they’ve put their number on the registry.

The FTC warns consumers to be wary of scams related to the registry. Many consumers who 

want to get fewer telemarketing calls already have signed up with a state “Do Not Call” registry, the 

Direct Marketing Association’s Telemarketing Preference Service or individual company “Do Not 

Call” lists. But consumer protection officials say that rip-off artists have been reported trying to take 

advantage of the popularity of these services to trick consumers into giving up personal information, 

such as their Social Security number, bank account number, credit card number or telephone calling 

card number.

Here’s how the scam works: someone calls claiming to represent a “Do Not Call” registry or 

the FTC. The phony registry “official” asks for your personal information, supposedly to verify that 

you are — or want to be — on the “Do Not Call” list. The caller is a con artist who could use your 

personal information to run up debts in your name or otherwise steal your identity. Some con artists 

are pushing a similar scam through spam email.

The FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection says consumers can avoid these scams. Here’s how: 

• Keep information about your bank accounts and credit cards to yourself — including the numbers — unless you know who you’re dealing with.

• Never share your Social Security number with a person you don’t know.
1-877-FTC-HELP FOR THE CONSUMER

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ftc.gov

March 2005

• Don’t share your personal information if someone calls you claiming to represent a “Do Not 

Call” registry, an organization to stop fraud, or even the FTC itself. If you get such a call, either hang up immediately or write down the caller’s organization and phone number and report 

it to the FTC at ftc.gov or 1-877-FTC-HELP, or to your state attorney general.

For more information on how to reduce unwanted telemarketing calls, visit ftc.gov/donotcall. If 

you believe that your personal information may have been compromised, visit 

www.consumer.gov/idtheft.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices 

in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a 

complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free,

1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, 

identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database 

available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.