DNC Scrubbing
Pre-checking phone numbers against federal and state Do-Not-Call lists before outbound dialing to avoid TCPA violations and known-litigator traps.
DNC scrubbing runs a phone number against the Federal Trade Commission's Do-Not-Call registry, individual state DNC lists, and litigator databases (numbers belonging to known TCPA plaintiffs who file lawsuits over unwanted calls). A clean scrub means the number doesn't appear on any list; a flagged number means the number should not be cold-dialed.
Federal TCPA penalties run $500 per call without consent, $1,500 per willful call. Litigator traps are the worst case — a single dial to a known plaintiff can trigger a $5,000-$50,000 settlement demand. The cost of scrubbing ($0.003-$0.01 per number) is trivial against the downside.
B2B local-services outbound has some carve-outs (calls to business landlines for B2B sales purposes are partially exempt under TCPA), but state laws vary widely, and the carve-outs do not extend to mobile numbers. Practical rule: scrub everything before the dial, skip anything flagged.
Related terms
- TCPA ComplianceAdhering to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act — the federal law governing outbound calls and texts in the US, enforcing consent rules, calling-time windows, and DNC respect.
- Line Type DetectionClassifying a phone number as mobile, landline, or VoIP by querying carrier databases — critical for distinguishing dialable real numbers from defunct VoIP forwards.
- Litigator TrapA phone number registered to a known TCPA plaintiff who files lawsuits over unwanted calls — a one-call mistake costs $5,000-$50,000 in settlement demands.
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