Companies in the credit and collection industry would be wise to note that we are getting close to the time of year when most individuals who are registered on the Do Not Call list are going to complain to the Federal Trade Commission about receiving calls, according to an analysis that looks at complaints filed in the past five years.
Looking at data from the past five years, the three months where the most complaints were filed were August 2017, August 2016, and August 2018 — do you notice a pattern?
The analysis was conducted by Comparitech, a team of researchers, writers, and developers providing information to help individuals research and compare tech services.
What Comparitech’s analysis also noted was the gap between complaints that were filed about robocalls and complaints that were filed about someone who made a live call is widening. In 2014, 54% of complaints were about robocalls and 46% were about live callers. By 2018, that share had changed to 67% robocall-related complaints and 33% about live callers.
By far, the most complained about topic from the 2018 fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30, 2018 was debt reduction services. The 641,734 complaints about debt reduction services were about the same total as the next two categories — medicine and prescriptions and imposters — combined.
Robocalls tend to be made most often between 10am and 11am and then tapering during the remainder of the day, according to Comparitech’s analysis.
“According to our analysis, robocalls made during a six-week span in 2019 came from 327 unique area codes and 254,236 unique phone numbers. Calls from importers, in which a live caller or recording pretends to a business, family, friend, or government entity, targeted California, Washington, D.C., and Oregon more than anywhere else in the U.S.. However, complaints about robocalls regarding medicine and prescriptions were most likely to come from Connecticut – a state known for its overwhelming presence of health insurance companies – and Arizona. Complaints about charity calls most likely came from Washington, D.C., and complaints about debt reduction calls most likely came from Maine.”
The analysis also looks at complaints across different states and counties and what people in those states and counties are most likely to complain about.
