Is It Illegal to Send Spam Text Messages?

Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, (“TCPA”) and Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) regulations,

it is illegal for a company to send text messages to or robo-dial  a cell phone unless the consumer gave consent to receive the message or the message was sent for emergency reasons. This applies even if the consumer has not placed their cell phone on the Do-Not-Call list. 1

When a company sends out spam text messages to you,

you can sue them for between $500 per text – and up to $1500 per text if the company willfully violated the law.
This is the same law that forbids robo-dialing and recorded messages to cell phone without your consent.

What Should You Do?

1. When you get spam text messages on your cell phone, call us at 858-634-0361 or fill out the contact information on this page.
2. I’ll get back in touch with you today or at the latest tomorrow.
3. After you call or contact me through the website, (see contact below) you and I will talk and then you can decide how you want to go from there.
4. I’ll investigate the probability of suing the company calling you.
5. As always, the first 15 minute consultation is free.
   No matter what, if you have a case, it won’t cost you anything unless and until we get a settlement for you.
6. Finally, please save as many messages as you can. Remember each text or call could be worth $500-$1500 to you.
   For more pointers on gathering and preserving evidence for your case Gathering and Preserving Evidence for Your Case.

Thank you.

1 In 2009, in the case of Satterfield v. Simon & Schuster, Inc., 569 F.3d 946, 954 (9th Cir. 2009) a federal court of appeals the Federal courts ruled that texting is as much a violation of the TCPA as calls. (Also see 2003 TCPA Order, 18 FCC Rcd at 14115, para. 165 (noting that text messaging is a form of communication used primarily between telephones and is therefore consistent with the definition of a “call”).

Simply stated, the court held that a “text” is the same as a “call,” and that the damages of $500 to $1500 per call applied to text messages including spam.