Are unsolicited marketing texts illegal?

The default rule: no consent, no marketing text

The law starts from a simple place. A company generally can’t send you automated marketing texts unless you gave it written permission to do so. That permission has to be real and specific. It can’t be buried, assumed because you once bought something, or transferred to you because a previous owner of your number said yes.

So when a promotional text shows up out of the blue, whether a sale, a crypto pitch, or a “you’ve been selected” offer, and you never opted in, that’s the default rule being broken. The product can be legitimate and the text can still break the law. What matters is that the company texted your cell without the consent the law requires.

One common source of confusion is where the company got your number. A data broker sold it, a partner shared it, or a prior owner of the number once signed up. None of that gives a new sender permission to text you. Consent has to come from you, for marketing, in writing. If the company can’t point to that, the texts it sent you are on the wrong side of the default rule no matter how it got your number.

Marketing vs. messages you actually asked for

Not every text is a violation. If you gave a business your number and agreed to get texts, like order updates, an appointment reminder, or a login code, those are usually fine, because you asked for them. The line is consent and purpose. A transactional text you signed up for is different from a marketing blast you never agreed to.

The trouble starts when a company stretches a narrow yes into a flood of ads, texts after you opted out, or sends marketing to people who never signed up at all. To see exactly which features make a text crossable into a claim, read what makes a marketing text illegal.

What an unsolicited text can be worth

When a marketing text is unlawful, the law puts a number on it: $500 per text, or up to $1,500 if the conduct was willful. Those amounts stack, since each text is counted on its own, so a string of unsolicited messages can add up faster than people expect. And the value doesn’t depend on the texts having cost you anything; the figure is fixed by law.

This holds even if you were never the company’s customer. Wrong-number marketing texts and blasts to people who never signed up are exactly the kind of conduct the rule targets. So the fact that you have no relationship with the sender isn’t a problem for a claim. If anything, it underscores that you never gave the permission a marketing text requires.

What you can do about it

First, reply STOP. A legitimate sender has to honor it, and if they keep texting after that, the later messages are an even stronger claim. Save the texts. Screenshots of the message and the sender’s number are the evidence that matters.

Then find out if you’re owed something. A free review with Max Morgan, Esq., a real TCPA attorney, will tell you whether your texts add up to a case. If they do, he works on contingency: no fee unless you recover, nationwide. Every case is different, and the review costs you nothing. See how a spam text lawsuit works for the full picture.

Related: What makes a marketing text illegal · Can I sue for spam texts? · Can I sue if I once gave my number? · Spam text message lawsuit