Robotext lawsuit: suing over automated spam texts

What a “robotext” actually is

People use the word loosely, so it’s worth pinning down. A robotext is a text message sent by automated equipment, the same kind of system that powers mass marketing blasts, rather than a person typing one message to one friend. Think of the offers, deals, links, and “you’ve been selected” messages that land in your inbox from numbers you’ve never seen.

When the TCPA was written for phone calls, courts and regulators applied its protections to text messages too. A text to your cell is the same kind of unwanted intrusion as a robocall, sent by the same kind of equipment, with the same missing consent. So the core rule is identical: a company generally can’t send automated marketing to your cell phone without your written permission first.

The legal basis: the TCPA

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act is the federal law that gives you, the person being texted, the right to sue. Not just the government. That’s what makes a robotext lawsuit possible: Congress put a fixed price on each violating message and handed the consumer the key.

For a text to be actionable under the TCPA, a few things generally line up:

• The text went to your cell phone.
• It was marketing, selling, promoting, or advertising something.
• It was sent by an automated system or as a mass blast.
• You never gave written permission to receive it, or you revoked it.

What’s recoverable

This is where a robotext lawsuit gets concrete. The TCPA fixes the value of each violating message, so the math is simple:

• $500 per illegal text as the baseline.
• Up to $1,500 per text when the violation was willful, meaning the company knew or should have known it was breaking the rules.
• They stack. Ten texts at $500 is $5,000; the same ten as willful violations is $15,000.

Texts that keep arriving after you reply STOP are a common path to the higher, willful amount, because once you’ve said stop, continuing to text you is hard to excuse. A months-long campaign, or a company that ignored your STOP reply, can add up quickly.

You don’t have to be a customer, or know who sent it

Two things stop people from acting, and both are usually unfounded.

First, you don’t have to be a customer. Wrong-number texts, messages clearly meant for someone else about an account or service that isn’t yours, are squarely covered. Consent has to come from you, so a text aimed at the previous owner of your number can’t ride on their agreement.

Second, you don’t have to identify the sender first. Short codes, spoofed numbers, and anonymous blasts are common, and tracing a campaign back to the company responsible is part of what an attorney does. Your job is simpler: keep the texts. For how to do that, see spam text evidence.

Bringing the claim, and what it costs you

You could file in small claims court yourself, but robotext cases turn on proving the text was automated, who sent it, and that you never consented, exactly the points companies fight hardest. A contingency attorney like Max Morgan, Esq. takes that on and gets paid out of the recovery, not your pocket.

If your inbox is full of texts you never asked for, a free review will tell you honestly whether they break the law and what they might be worth. No recovery, no fee. Not sure if your situation counts? See whether you qualify, or read the full guide to a spam text message lawsuit.

Related: Spam text message lawsuit · Marketing texts without consent · Text message TCPA violations · Do I qualify?