The National Do Not Call Registry can reduce calls from legitimate telemarketers that follow U.S. law. It will not stop illegal scam callers, but it is still worth setting up.
Does this affect you?
Use this for any U.S. landline or mobile number receiving telemarketing calls. This targets legal telemarketers, not scam operations that ignore the rules.
Register with the National Do Not Call Registry
Use the official free federal registry.
- Go to donotcall.gov.
- Choose Register your phone.
- Enter the phone number and your email address.
- Open the confirmation email from the registry and click the link. Registration is not complete until confirmed.
- Repeat for other phone numbers, including mobile lines.
- Allow up to 31 days for legitimate telemarketers to update their lists.
Opt out from a specific company
This can work faster when the caller is a company you have dealt with.
- When the company calls, say clearly: Please add my number to your do-not-call list.
- Companies must honor that request within the required timeframe and keep their internal list.
- If you have an online account with the company, check communication preferences or privacy settings for marketing-call opt-outs.
- Remember this opt-out applies only to that company.
Report calls that continue
Persistent calls after registration can be reported.
- Go to reportfraud.ftc.gov or use the reporting link at donotcall.gov.
- Provide the calling number, date, and company name or topic if you know it.
- Report outright scams as fraud, not just as telemarketing violations.
- Understand that the FTC uses complaint patterns for enforcement rather than resolving every complaint individually.
More control
Scammers ignore the registry
Fake IRS, tech support, prize, and robocall scams will not stop because your number is registered. Use call-blocking tools for those.
Some calls are exempt
Political campaigns, charities, survey calls, informational calls, and companies you recently did business with may still call. You can still ask them directly to stop.
Texts have separate tools
Marketing texts often stop when you reply STOP. Spam texts can also be forwarded to 7726, which spells SPAM.
Pair it with filtering
The registry plus iPhone, Android, or carrier spam filtering gives better coverage than either approach alone.
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission – National Do Not Call Registry (2025)
- Federal Trade Commission – Do Not Call: report unwanted calls (2025)
- Federal Communications Commission – Stop unwanted robocalls and texts (2025)