YouMail: 1,305,471,500 robocalls in 2025, 804,856,400 in 2026 YTD. 75,408 DNC complaints — 871 per 100,000, 10th in the FTC book.
Federal floor: TCPA $500 / $1,500.
Virginia layer — VTPPA, Va. Code § 59.1-510 et seq., amended effective January 1, 2026:
- Covers calls and texts to a Virginia residence, a Virginia area code, or a Virginia wireless number.
- Hours: 8 a.m.–9 p.m.
- Reply STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE on a sales text. The solicitor must honor it for at least 10 years — double the federal five-year DNC convention.
- If a live person is not on the line within two seconds, play a prerecorded ID with a working opt-out number.
- Private damages, § 59.1-515: $500 first violation, $1,000 second, $5,000 each subsequent. Court may lift a willful first or second count to $5,000. Attorney’s fees available.
- Also bars calls to numbers on the National DNC Registry.
What changed: The January 1, 2026 amendments are the update. Screenshot the STOP. Count the hits after it.
Left on the table: 75,408 × $500 ≈ $37.7 million federal floor. × $1,500 ≈ $113.1 million. State escalating damages can outrun the federal ticker on a repeat caller.
Register at donotcall.gov. Use the Virginia Playbook.
This is a Q3 2026 TeleJustice Academy quarterly law update. Figures: YouMail Robocall Index (estimated volume); 2025 DNC complaint counts and per-capita rates from the FTC Data Book cycle. “Money left on the table” is complaint count × TCPA statutory minimums — an illustration, not a prediction. Robocall indexes include legal recorded calls. Only documented illegal calls and texts support a claim. Educational only. Not legal advice. TeleJustice Academy is not a law firm. Protect the file: donotcall.gov · state list where one exists · call log with date, time, number · screenshots · your state Playbook at telejusticeacademy.com and telejusticepro.com.