Unwanted Spam Texts: Why They May Be Illegal and What to Screenshot

A text arrives from a number you don't recognize: a "special offer," a "package delivery" alert for something you never ordered, a message about a loan you never applied for. You delete it. Another one comes the next day.

These messages feel like a different category from robocalls, but under federal law they are largely the same thing — and they carry the same consequences for the sender.

A Text Is a "Call" Under the TCPA

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227, restricts the use of automatic dialing systems and prerecorded voices to reach cell phones without consent. The statute talks about "calls," and the FCC has interpreted that word to include text messages sent to a wireless number. Courts have generally followed the FCC on this point. The practical result is that an automated marketing text is treated like an automated marketing call.

That matters because the TCPA's consent rule for telemarketing to cell phones is strict. Under the FCC's regulations at 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(2), a business generally needs your prior express written consent before sending you automated marketing texts. Written consent means a signed agreement — electronic signatures count — that clearly discloses you are agreeing to receive automated marketing messages from that particular seller at that number.

What Usually Goes Wrong

Most spam-text problems fall into a few recognizable patterns:

• You never gave consent at all. Your number was bought, scraped, or guessed. This is the clearest violation.
• You consented to one company and a different one is texting you. Consent to receive messages from a specific seller does not automatically extend to its "marketing partners." The FCC has tightened this area considerably, and lead-sharing arrangements are a frequent source of liability.
• You replied STOP and the texts kept coming. Revocation is discussed below, but continuing to text after a clear opt-out is a separate violation from the original message.
• The "consent" was buried in a website's fine print. Consent has to be clear and conspicuous. Language hidden in terms of service that you never saw is a weak basis for a company to claim you agreed.

How to Revoke Consent

Even if you did sign up for texts at some point, you can withdraw that consent, and the sender has to honor it. The FCC has stated that consumers may revoke consent through any reasonable method, and a business cannot require you to use one specific channel to do so.

In practice, replying STOP is the most common and most easily documented method. Other words like "unsubscribe," "cancel," "end," or "quit" also work, and so does a plain-English message saying you don't want more texts. The FCC has also adopted a rule requiring senders to honor revocation requests within a reasonable time, and it has specified ten business days as the outer limit.

One caution: some scam senders use a "reply STOP" prompt to confirm your number is live. If the text is obviously fraudulent — a fake delivery notice, a prize you didn't win — replying may not be wise. But for texts from an identifiable business, replying STOP is the right move, and it creates a timestamped record that you opted out.

What You Can Recover

The TCPA's private right of action applies to texts the same way it applies to calls. Under 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3), you may recover the greater of your actual monetary loss or $500 for each message sent in violation of the robocall provisions, and a court may award up to $1,500 per message if the violation was willful or knowing. Because the remedy is per message, a campaign of dozens of texts adds up quickly.

What to Screenshot

Text messages are easier to document than calls, but people often capture the wrong thing. If you want to preserve a potential claim, make sure your screenshots show:

• The sender's number or short code exactly as it appears at the top of the thread
• The full text of every message, including any links, promo codes, or company names
• The date and time of each message — on most phones, dragging the message bubble to the side reveals the timestamp
• Your STOP reply and anything sent after it, which is the clearest evidence of a revocation violation
• The entire thread from beginning to end, not just a single message

Don't delete the thread. If you use a messaging app that backs up to the cloud, make sure the backup includes the messages. And don't click links in suspicious texts to "see who sent it" — the sender's identity can usually be determined other ways.

The Bottom Line

Spam texts are not a loophole in the law. They are governed by the same statute as robocalls, they require the same written consent for marketing, and they carry the same per-message remedy. The single most useful thing you can do is keep the thread intact and screenshot it fully.