Spam calls and unwanted marketing texts are more than just annoying.
Over the years, federal regulators and consumers have brought major cases involving robocalls, prerecorded messages, unwanted marketing texts, and calls to numbers listed on the National Do Not Call Registry.
Some of those cases have had significant connections to Florida — and some involved millions of calls or multimillion-dollar judgments and settlements.
These cases help show just how large unwanted calling and texting campaigns can become — and why keeping records of repeated solicitation calls and texts can matter.
One of the largest examples involved Lifewatch, a company that marketed medical alert systems.
The Federal Trade Commission and Florida Attorney General alleged that consumers — many of them older Americans — were bombarded with at least one billion unsolicited robocalls promoting supposedly free medical alert systems.
Financial judgment imposed against Lifewatch and one of its principals.
Unsolicited robocalls alleged by federal and Florida regulators.
The court order also permanently banned the Lifewatch defendants from telemarketing.
The FTC later distributed more than $1.8 million in refunds to nearly 72,000 consumers.
Pointbreak Media was part of a Florida-based telemarketing operation that targeted small businesses.
According to the FTC, the defendants made more than 74 million robocalls.
More than 74 million robocalls were allegedly placed as part of the operation.
More than 14 million calls allegedly went to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry.
A federal court in Florida entered judgments and settlements against the defendants. The two primary defendants were ordered to pay more than $3.3 million and were banned from telemarketing.
A class action filed in the Middle District of Florida involved calls concerning UnitedHealthcare's Optum HouseCalls program.
The lawsuit alleged that certain consumers received artificial or prerecorded voice calls on their cellphones concerning plans that were not theirs.
Class settlement fund established to resolve the TCPA claims.
The court approved the settlement and payments were distributed in 2025.
A Florida TCPA class action involving Checkers Drive-In Restaurants focused on marketing text messages.
The dispute involved allegations concerning promotional messages and consumers who attempted to stop receiving future communications.
Approximate amount made available under the class settlement.
The case demonstrates why consumers should save promotional texts and opt-out messages.
A South Florida federal case involving ColourPop Cosmetics concerned marketing text messages allegedly sent using a text messaging platform.
The court approved a class settlement that made up to approximately $2.86 million available to class members.
The settlement covered consumers throughout the United States who received qualifying text messages during the applicable period.
Every case is different, but many major robocall and unwanted-text cases involve similar issues.
Not every unwanted call or text violates the law. Whether a consumer may have a claim depends on the facts surrounding the calls or messages.
If you are receiving repeated unwanted solicitation calls or marketing texts, documentation can be important.
Before deleting or blocking the number, consider taking these steps:
Take screenshots showing the incoming number, date, time, and frequency of the calls.
Keep promotional texts, STOP replies, opt-out messages, and any responses you receive.
Keep prerecorded messages and voicemails that may help identify the company contacting you.
Keep a record of when you told the caller to stop or asked to be added to the company's internal Do Not Call list.
Whenever possible, identify the company or business behind the solicitation before ending the call.
Organize your evidence before you lose track of it.
Track calls, texts, phone numbers, dates, stop requests, screenshots, and supporting evidence in one place.
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