Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Wal-Mart Gift Card Spam Text Messages

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A California woman has filed a class action lawsuit against two companies for allegedly sending unsolicited text messages to nearly 60,000 individuals falsely promising a free Wal-Mart gift card.

Lead Plaintiff Jessica Lee alleges in the class action lawsuit that Stonebridge Life Insurance Co. hired Trifecta Marketing Group LLC to transmit millions of similar spam text messages to consumers to generate leads for Stonebridge and other companies. Lee is only seeking to represent 59,568 of those individuals who received the Wal-Mart gift card text message during a four-day period in late 2010.

According to the class action lawsuit, these spam text messages violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which prohibits companies from using automatic dialing systems (robo-dialing), prerecorded messages or sending unsolicited text messages to consumers.

The class action lawsuit cites a call list obtained from T-Mobile that shows Trifecta violated the TCPA by using a “single software-based application programming interface” to send the unsolicited text messages every three to five seconds.

“This case is a textbook example of a claim suitable for class certification: a single telephone number transmitted 59,568 text messages over a four-day period using the same technology and inviting consumers to call a toll-free telephone number controlled by Trifecta for the benefit of Stonebridge,” the class action lawsuit says.

Lee says she received the text spam in November 2010, which supplied a toll-free number to call in order to obtain a $100 Wal-Mart gift card. There was no gift card, however, and the number connected consumers with a Trifecta call center operator who pitched a number of Stonebridge products and services to the caller, including a chance to enter a sweepstakes sponsored by Stonebridge, according to the class action lawsuit.

If a consumer expressed any interest in Stonebridge products, Trifecta transmitted that consumer’s contact information to Stonebridge so the company could then contact the consumer directly.

Lee is requesting certification of a proposed class of all individuals who received a text message from telephone number “650-283-0793” from November 28, 2010 through December 2, 2010.

The case is Jessica Lee v. Stonebridge Life Insurance Company and Trifecta Marketing Group, LLC, Case No. 11-cv-0043-RS, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. Lee is represented by Sean Reis, John C. Ochoa, Ryan Andrews, Evan M. Meyers and Bradley Baglien of Edelson McGuire, LLP.

UPDATE: Stonebridge Life Insurance Co. and Trifecta Marketing Group have agreed to settle the text message spam class action lawsuit. Claim filing instructions are available here.