How to Add Your Cell Phone to the Do Not Call List

To add your cell phone to the Do Not Call list, register the number free at donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want to protect.¹ Cell phones get the same protection as landlines, the registration never expires, and telemarketers who ignore it face civil penalties of up to $53,088 per illegal call.²

Registering Online or by Phone

Online, go to donotcall.gov and enter up to three numbers along with your email address.³ The site sends a confirmation email with a verification link. Click it within 72 hours or the registration lapses and you start over.¹

The phone route is faster if you only have one number. Call 1-888-382-1222 from the cell phone itself and there’s no email step. Hearing-impaired users can register through the TTY line at 1-866-290-4236.¹ Both methods are free.

Registration is permanent. The FTC only removes a number if it’s disconnected and reassigned or if you specifically ask to be taken off the list.¹ Despite persistent rumors, there’s no need to re-register every few years.

When the Calls Should Stop

Protection isn’t immediate. Telemarketers are required to update their calling lists against the registry at least every 31 days, so allow up to a month before legitimate sales calls have to stop.² Calls that keep coming after that window are potential violations worth reporting.

Who Can Still Legally Call You

The registry covers commercial telemarketing, not every unwanted call. Several categories of callers can still reach a registered number:

Political campaigns, as long as they aren’t selling anything
Charities soliciting donations, including for-profit fundraisers calling on their behalf
Surveys and opinion polls that don’t pitch a product
Purely informational messages
Business-to-business sales calls
Companies you gave written permission to call you, until you revoke it

⁴

The Existing Business Relationship Exemption

This one catches people off guard. A company you’ve done business with recently can call even after you register. If you bought something, they have 18 months from the last payment, transaction, or shipment. If you only asked about a product or submitted an application without purchasing, they have three months.⁴

Telling a Specific Company to Stop

You can still shut down any exempt caller individually. Federal rules require every telemarketer to keep a company-specific do-not-call list, and if you say “stop calling me,” they must add you to it and honor the request going forward.⁵ Write down the date you made the request; you may need it later.

What the Registry Cannot Do

The registry is a list, not a blocker. It tells legitimate telemarketers which numbers to avoid, and it does not stop any call from reaching your phone.¹ Scammers running illegal operations, often from overseas with spoofed caller IDs, ignore it entirely. The FTC says plainly that being on the registry won’t stop calls from people already breaking the law.

Robocalls to cell phones are a separate matter. Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, it’s illegal for anyone to call your cell using an autodialer or prerecorded voice without your prior express consent, whether or not your number is on the Do Not Call list.⁶ The FCC has confirmed this protection applies even to unregistered numbers.⁷

If you’re getting multiple scam calls a day, pair the registry with carrier call-blocking tools. The FCC has authorized phone companies to block suspected illegal calls and to offer opt-in services that block numbers not in your contacts.⁷ Most major carriers now offer these features, and third-party apps handle the rest.

Reporting a Violation

If a telemarketer calls your registered cell after the 31-day window, file a complaint at reportfraud.ftc.gov or by phone at 1-877-382-4357.⁸ Include the date and time, the number on your caller ID, and the company name if you caught it. Spoofed numbers are common, so the displayed number may not be the caller’s real one.¹ The FTC uses complaint data to build cases against the worst offenders; individual reports don’t trigger investigations into individual calls.

Suing a Telemarketer Yourself

The TCPA also lets you sue in state court. You can recover $500 per illegal call or your actual loss, whichever is greater, and a court can triple the amount to $1,500 per call for willful violations.⁶

For a Do Not Call Registry claim specifically, you need more than one illegal call from the same company within a 12-month period.⁶ Companies can defend by showing they had reasonable procedures to prevent violations, so keep records. Save call logs, screenshots, and voicemails. That evidence is what turns a nuisance into a viable claim.

1
Federal Trade Commission. National Do Not Call Registry FAQs
2
Federal Trade Commission. Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule
3
Federal Trade Commission. Verify a Registration – National Do Not Call Registry
4
Federal Trade Commission. Q&A for Telemarketers and Sellers About DNC Provisions in the TSR
5
eCFR. 16 CFR 310.4 – Abusive Telemarketing Acts or Practices
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 47 USC 227 – Restrictions on Use of Telephone Equipment
7
Federal Communications Commission. Stop Unwanted Robocalls and Texts
8
Federal Trade Commission. Unwanted Calls and Text Messages