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

To stop telemarketing calls in North Carolina, add your phone number to the National Do Not Call list at DoNotCall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222. North Carolina does not run a separate state registry. Instead, the state’s Telephone Solicitations Act works alongside the federal list, so one free registration turns on both federal and state protections.¹ If a telemarketer ignores your registration, you can report them to the state Attorney General, and you can sue them directly under federal and North Carolina law.

How to Register Your Number

There are two ways to sign up, and both are free. Online, go to DoNotCall.gov, enter the number you want to protect, and give an email address. A confirmation email will arrive; click the link within 72 hours or the registration will not complete.²

By phone, call 1-888-382-1222 from the line you want to register. The system reads your caller ID, so the call has to come from that specific phone.² Landlines and cell phones are treated the same once they are on the list.

When Calls Should Stop

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

Once you are registered, you stay registered. The FTC removes a number only if the line is disconnected and reassigned to someone else, or if you ask to be taken off.² You can check your status at any time at DoNotCall.gov.

Calls the List Does Not Block

Registration blocks commercial sales calls. Several other categories can still legally reach you:

Political campaigns, parties, and survey or polling organizations.
Charities and nonprofits calling on their own behalf. A for-profit telemarketer hired by a charity does have to respect your listing.³
Companies you have already done business with, for up to 18 months after your last transaction or inquiry.³
Debt collectors, who are governed by separate rules.

If one of these callers is bothering you, tell them directly to stop. They then have to add your number to their own internal do-not-call list. Telling a company to stop also ends the 18-month existing-business-relationship window immediately.

Calling Hours and Caller ID

Unless you have given permission in advance, 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 telemarketer’s own office sits in an earlier time zone.

Telemarketers also have to send their phone number, and their company name when it is available, to your caller ID. Blocking or faking that information is itself a violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule.⁴ A sales call showing up as “Unknown” or with a spoofed local number can be reported on that basis alone.

How to Report a Violation

Before you file anything, write down the date, time, the number on caller ID, and any company name or product the caller mentioned. Investigators need those specifics to connect one complaint to others. Filing with both the federal and state offices is worth the extra minutes.

Federal Report

Once your number has been on the registry for at least 31 days, report unwanted sales calls at DoNotCall.gov/report. The form asks what the call was about, using categories such as debt reduction, home security, or warranties. Robocalls can be reported through the same form whether or not your number is registered.⁵

North Carolina Report

The North Carolina Department of Justice runs its own complaint form for robocalls and illegal telemarketing at ncdoj.gov/report-robocalls. Include the company name if the caller gave one and the general subject of the pitch. The Attorney General’s office looks for patterns across complaints, and when the same number or company keeps appearing, the office can bring an enforcement action and ask a court to bar that business from operating in the state.⁶

Penalties Under North Carolina Law

The Telephone Solicitations Act lets the Attorney General impose civil penalties that climb with each violation:⁷

First violation: $500
Second violation: $1,000
Third and each additional violation: $5,000

Violations are counted within a rolling two-year window from the first offense. A telemarketer can knock a penalty down to $100 by proving the call was a genuine mistake and that the company followed the required compliance procedures.⁷ That safe harbor is not available to a company that never scrubbed its call list against the registry in the first place.

Suing a Telemarketer Yourself

You do not have to wait for a government agency. Both federal and North Carolina law let a consumer sue a telemarketer directly.

Federal TCPA Claim

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act allows you to recover $500 for each illegal call. If a court finds the telemarketer knowingly or willfully broke the law, it can triple the award to $1,500 per call.⁸ “Knowing” means the caller was aware the number was on the registry and called anyway. Even a small number of documented calls can add up to a real award in small claims court.

North Carolina Statute Claim

The state’s Telephone Solicitations Act carries its own private right of action, using the same escalating amounts the Attorney General uses: $500, then $1,000, then $5,000 within a two-year period.⁷ A state-law claim is separate from a federal TCPA claim, so both can be available depending on the facts.

AI-Generated Voice Calls

Robocalls using AI-cloned or synthetic voices are not a workaround. In February 2024, the FCC ruled that AI-generated voices count as “artificial or prerecorded” messages under the TCPA and carry the same consent requirements as any other robocall. A telemarketer using an AI voice needs your prior written consent before placing the call. Without it, the call breaks federal law and can be reported and sued over on the same terms as any other illegal robocall. The message also has to identify the business responsible at the start 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
6
NCDOJ. Report Robocalls
7
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 75 – Article 4
8
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