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Why Reassigned Numbers Are Costing You More Than You Think
What happens when reassigned numbers appear in your contact database? Millions of phone numbers are disconnected each year. In just a couple of months, a disconnected phone number can be reassigned to a new user. You don’t want to contact this new user with information intended for someone else.
How many reassigned numbers are in your contact database right now? Fortunately, you don’t have to guess, wonder, or waste time on trial and error. Keep reading to find out how reassigned numbers could be costing you, assumptions and mistakes to avoid, and the best tools you can use to verify phone numbers before calling.
The Dangers of Reassigned Numbers
Reassigned numbers not only threaten a business financially; they can also be detrimental to a business’s reputation. Here are some dangers reassigned numbers can pose to your business:
Lost Customer Communication
When a number is reassigned, calling or texting that number may reach the wrong person—or no one at all. You can miss sales opportunities, frustrate customers, and damage trust and credibility. Plus, the actual customer might miss out on important communications or opportunities from you.
Compliance and Legal Risk (TCPA Violations)
Businesses that use text or call marketing (especially auto-dialers) risk violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) if they contact someone who did not consent. You are still liable even if you thought the number still belonged to a consenting customer. Fines can reach $500–$1,500 per violation.
Wasted Marketing Spend
Calling reassigned numbers can be costly in terms of wasted time and resources which could be better spent reaching stronger leads. Outbound texts, calls, or ads sent to reassigned numbers result in lower campaign ROI, skewed performance analytics, and increased opt-outs or spam reports. And the more opt-outs and spam reports you receive, the harder it is to launch successful campaigns in the future.
Fraud and Security Issues
In some cases, a reassigned number is still linked to someone’s account (e.g., banking, healthcare, or 2FA). This opens the door to fraud and security concerns like unauthorized access, identity theft, and data breaches.
Brand Reputation Damage
Customers who receive messages intended for someone else may view the business as careless, spammy, or even malicious. This is especially true if the content is sensitive or persistent. If an auto-dialer does not recognize that a number is reassigned, it might be set to continue calling at regular intervals despite the new number holder’s responses.
Operational Inefficiencies
Support teams may waste time trying to reach unresponsive contacts or deal with confused recipients of misdirected messages. This leads to higher customer service workloads and increased negative reviews.
Impact on Account Recovery and User Experience
For apps or services that use phone numbers as login credentials or recovery methods, reassigned numbers can frustrate customers. Users may have difficulty regaining account access, and it can be easy for the new owner to unintentionally or maliciously access someone else’s account.
Why Some Businesses Don’t Realize How Costly Reassigned Numbers Can Be
Businesses often underestimate the cost of reassigned numbers. Many businesses aren’t aware that numbers can be reassigned as quickly as 45 days after disconnection. Without the right tools in place to regularly verify your contact database, you could be at risk of some of the above dangers. In addition to verifying your contact database, be mindful of these common mistakes:
Assumption of Ownership Stability
Many businesses assume that once they collect a phone number, it will always belong to the same customer. They may not realize that numbers can be reassigned in as little as 45–90 days of inactivity.
Lack of Visibility into Turnover
Phone carriers don’t automatically notify businesses when a number is disconnected or reassigned. Without active monitoring or use of validation tools, businesses have no built-in way to know a number has changed hands.
Delayed or Indirect Consequences
The damage caused by reassigned numbers—like lost conversions, customer turnover, or wasted resources—often happens slowly or behind the scenes, making it harder to connect the issue to its root cause. You may not immediately see the effect it has on your finances or reputation.
Over-Reliance on Consent Logs
Businesses may rely on their original consent records to justify outreach. However, prior consent doesn’t transfer to new owners of the number under laws like the TCPA.
Underestimating Legal Risk
Small and mid-size businesses in particular may not understand the seriousness of TCPA penalties or the cost of defending against even a single complaint or class-action suit tied to reassigned numbers. Don’t wait for that first infraction.
Focus on Acquisition, Not Maintenance
Most companies prioritize gathering new leads over maintaining clean, updated contact lists. The idea of data hygiene often takes a back seat until problems arise.
Lack of Internal Coordination
Marketing, customer service, IT, and legal teams may all handle phone numbers differently. This can lead to inconsistent policies for number validation, consent management, or risk monitoring.
How to Combat Reassigned Numbers
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) estimates that approximately 100,000 numbers are reassigned every day in the United States. According to Eric Troutman, a class action defense lawyer nationally recognized in TCPA litigation and compliance, “EVERY large volume caller that calls numbers more than 60-90 days after receiving them” should “determine whether or not a number has changed hands before calling it.”
Since January 27, 2021, service providers have been required to track and report disconnected numbers, feeding this data into a database. This is good news for businesses that rely on phone outreach. Ensuring that you are not unintentionally contacting someone who did not provide prior consent protects your business from potential TCPA violations and legal risks.
Reassigned Numbers Database (RND)
Searchbug’s Reassigned Numbers Database (RND) API allows you to check if a phone number has been disconnected or reassigned after the last date of consent. This API accesses the FCC-mandated national database, where telecom providers have tracked number disconnections since 2021.
With a simple query, you can instantly determine if a phone number has been reassigned, ensuring that your business remains compliant with telemarketing laws, including TCPA and Telemarketing Sales Rules (TSR).
Other Phone Verification Tools
Batch append can be a useful tool, too. However, phone numbers found and appended are the most recently reported numbers, so it’s possible that some of them may be disconnected. To verify if phone numbers on your list are active and reachable, use a bulk phone validator.
Bulk phone validator can tell you if numbers in your list are landlines, cell numbers, or VoIP numbers. It can also detect if numbers are active or disconnected, whether they are on the US National or State Do Not Call (DNC) list, and whether they have been used in TCPA litigation.
But the best way to determine whether numbers in your list have been disconnected or reassigned after the last date of consent is to check them against the RND.
How Much Are Reassigned Numbers Costing You?
Do you know how much reassigned numbers are affecting your business reputation? How much time and resources are you wasting on numbers that are no longer valuable? Do you know how much campaign damage reassigned numbers are causing?
Don’t wait until you receive a complaint, get charged a TCPA violation fine, or get involved in TCPA litigation. Prevent these issues with phone verification tools.
You can start using Searchbug’s RND API as quickly as 1-2 business days. Simply submit a Letter of Authorization (LOA) to get approved and start enjoying benefits like pay-per-use, cumulative volume-based pricing, and safe-harbor protection.
There are no signup fees or mandatory subscriptions. Better still, you can try it for free! Don’t pay upfront without knowing if an API works for you. Test the API for free before making any commitment. You can check performance, response times, and integration before deciding. Check it out today!
