Skip to main content

Sick of getting robocalls and other unwanted calls? You can learn more about how to block them at ftc.gov/calls.

You also might know that the FTC continues to go after the people and companies behind these calls. Case in point: today the FTC announced a case against a group of defendants that it alleges are responsible for billions of illegal robocalls.

According to the FTC’s complaint, Jamie Christiano and his companies acted as a one-stop shop for illegal telemarketers, providing autodialing software, VoIP phone service, servers to host autodialing software, and space to house the servers. Known as TelWeb, Christiano’s bundle of services was used to make illegal robocalls in at least eight other FTC lawsuits, and by the other defendants in this case. For years, Christiano and his companies ignored warning signs that TelWeb was being used to make illegal calls without putting a stop to them.

Robocalls that try to sell you something are illegal whether you’re on the Do Not Call Registry or not, unless a company has your written permission to call you that way. If you get an illegal robocall, report it at ftc.gov/complaint.

The FTC releases the phone numbers you report each day to help companies that are working to block these calls. Your reports also help law enforcement find the people behind illegal calls and stop them.

 

Search Terms

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 won’t post off-topic comments, repeated identical comments, or comments that include sales pitches or promotions.
  • We won’t post comments that include vulgar messages, personal attacks by name, or offensive terms that target specific people or groups.
  • We won’t post threats, defamatory statements, or suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity.
  • We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

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.

bZg
October 30, 2018
Constantly receiving calls DAILY (about 10-12 a day) about insurance & warranties & lowering credit card debt, & IRS bs scams, etc., etc. The DNC list is useless & I also now receive about 15-16 junk texts a day. The latest is about carpet cleaning. I’ve now employed 4 apps on my phone & now I’m reasonably sure that not only having your number on the DNC list AND using call blocking apps may actually spread your number out for sucky telemarketers to use!!!
Bradanswer
March 15, 2019
All the frustration and insanity of a seemingly constant ringing of a home phone NB and 'off the hook" is the only temporary relief. 7 to 1. That's the ratio of numbers not familiar vs numbers from legit callers who have reason to call. A nation stressed out over constantly ringing phones . Forget extremists or terrorists. Forget Democrats and Republicans. Forget inflation or unemployment, our once great nation is being toppled by greed, ignorance and the mighty AUTO-DIALER.
Ed
April 10, 2019
Robocall # 1800 507-1321 be careful they call pretending to be from Social security office .
aressess
April 16, 2019
Our phone company provides NOMOROBO for free. After activating it, our house phone rings once, many times each day. We just wait for the second ring before checking caller-id to see if we want to answer it. Unfortunately, the app for cellphone has a monthly charge.
Bleeding Ear
May 14, 2019
Yeah, ok... sure. It's 2019 and these unsolicited calls are getting worse regardless of the government lip service telling us otherwise.
Chris in the NW
November 06, 2019
Congress needs to simply make number spoofing illegal. I know it's convenient for some but the current laws that say number spoofing is illegal only if you're doing it for fraudulent purposes is like saying robbing banks is only illegal if you're doing it to get drug money.