Do Not Call List NC: Registration, Reporting, and Lawsuits

To get on the Do Not Call list in NC, add your phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry at DoNotCall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want to protect. Registration is free. North Carolina does not run a separate state list; the state’s Telephone Solicitations Act piggybacks on the federal registry, so one sign-up triggers both federal and state protections.¹ Telemarketers who call a registered number face civil penalties of up to $5,000 per call under state law, and you can sue them yourself under both federal and North Carolina statutes.

How to Register

Two options, both free:

Online at DoNotCall.gov. Enter the number and an email address, then click the confirmation link the FTC sends you. You have 72 hours to confirm, or the registration doesn’t take.²
By phone at 1-888-382-1222. Call from the line you want registered, because the system reads your caller ID to identify the number.²

Landlines and cell phones are treated the same once listed.

What Happens After You Register

Your number appears in the registry the next day, but sales calls can continue for up to 31 days. Telemarketers are only required to refresh their call lists against the registry every 31 days, so a sales call during that window may not yet be a violation.²

Your registration never expires. The FTC removes a number only if the line is disconnected and reassigned, or if you ask to be removed.² You can check your status anytime at DoNotCall.gov.

Calls That Can Still Reach You

The registry doesn’t block everything. Several categories of callers remain allowed:

Political campaigns, parties, and polling organizations, because they aren’t selling anything.
Charities and nonprofits calling on their own behalf. A professional fundraiser hired by a charity, though, must honor your listing.³
Companies you’ve recently done business with. They have an 18-month window after your last transaction or inquiry to call you.³
Debt collectors, who are governed by a separate set of federal rules.

To stop any of these callers, tell them directly. Once you make that request, the organization has to add you to its internal do-not-call list. Asking an existing business to stop also cuts off the 18-month window immediately.

When Telemarketers Are and Aren’t Allowed to Call

Federal Telemarketing Sales Rule limits set clear boundaries. Without your prior permission, a telemarketer cannot call your home before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. in your local time zone.⁴ A 9:15 p.m. call is a violation even if the caller sits in an earlier time zone.

Telemarketers must also transmit their phone number, and the company name when available, to your caller ID. Blocking or spoofing that information is itself a violation of the rule.⁴ A sales call that shows up as “Unknown” or as a faked local number may be reportable on that basis alone.

How to Report Violations

File complaints in both places. Patterns across complaints are what move investigators to act.

Federal: FTC

Once your number has been on the registry for at least 31 days, report unwanted sales calls at DoNotCall.gov/report. Robocalls can be reported through the same form whether or not you’ve registered.⁵

State: NC Attorney General

The North Carolina Department of Justice takes complaints at ncdoj.gov/report-robocalls. Provide the company name if the caller gave one and the subject of the call. When the same number or company shows up repeatedly in complaints, the office can bring enforcement actions and ask a court to bar the business from operating in the state.⁶

Before filing, write down the date, time, the number on your caller ID, and whatever the caller said about their company or product. Specifics are what let investigators connect one complaint to others.

Penalties Under North Carolina Law

The Telephone Solicitations Act lets the Attorney General impose escalating civil penalties:⁷

$500 for a first violation
$1,000 for a second
$5,000 for a third and each one after that

Violations are counted within a rolling two-year window from the first offense. A telemarketer can knock the penalty down to $100 per violation by proving the calls were a genuine mistake and that the company had the required compliance procedures in place.⁷ That safe harbor is out of reach for repeat offenders and for companies that never scrub their lists against the registry.

Suing a Telemarketer Yourself

You don’t have to wait for a government agency to act. Both federal and North Carolina law let you file your own suit.

Federal TCPA

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act lets you recover $500 per illegal call. If the court finds the violation was knowing or willful, it can treble the award to $1,500 per call.⁸ A “knowing” violation means the caller knew your number was on the registry and called anyway. A handful of documented calls can add up quickly in small claims court.

North Carolina Telephone Solicitations Act

The state law carries its own private right of action, with the same tiered damages the Attorney General uses: $500 for a first violation, $1,000 for a second, and $5,000 for a third or later within two years.⁷ This claim is separate from a federal TCPA claim, so depending on the facts you may have more than one route.

AI-Generated Voice Calls

Robocalls using AI-cloned or synthetic voices are not a workaround. In February 2024, the FCC confirmed that AI-generated voices count as “artificial or prerecorded” messages under the TCPA, which means they carry the same consent requirements as any other robocall. A telemarketer using an AI voice needs your prior written consent. Without it, the call is illegal and can be reported and sued over on the same terms as a standard robocall. The call must also identify the business responsible at the start of the message and give you a way to opt out.⁹

1
NCDOJ. Do Not Call Registry
2
Federal Trade Commission (FTC). National Do Not Call Registry FAQs
3
Federal Trade Commission. The Do Not Call Registry
4
Federal Trade Commission. Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule
5
Federal Trade Commission. National Do Not Call Registry – Report Unwanted Calls
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NCDOJ. Report Robocalls
7
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 75 – Article 4
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 47 USC 227 – Restrictions on Use of Telephone Equipment
9
Federal Communications Commission. Declaratory Ruling on Implications of Artificial Intelligence Technologies on Protecting Consumers from Unwanted Robocalls and Robotexts