FTC - Mobile Spam Texting Gets Expensive

The Federal Trade Commission handed down a fine of $377,321 against a Florida based company accused of deceptive and fraudulent practices in sending 42 million spam texts to mobile users. This is by far the largest penalty the FTC has assessed against the offenders identified last March in a sweep of shady practitioners. Mobile spam is illegal according to two statutes, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the 2003 Can-Spam Act. The eight cases brought cited a total of approximately 180 million such spam texts. In this case, unwanted and deceptive offers of free $1000 gift cards were sent to consumers. After multiple screens and myriad come-ons, it became obvious that the offer was specious. The FTC has received tens of thousands of complaints regarding spam texting in recent years. Perhaps this has been brought on by the tidal shift to mobile use fueled by the advent of unlimited text plans from mobile carriers. There has been a perceptible drop in such complaints in recent months, which may indicate that the FTC action is working. Read More