CITGO Text Spam Class Action Settlement Checks are Starting to Arrive

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Checks from an $8 million CITGO text message spam class action settlement are arriving in the mail for qualifying Class Members.

Top Class Actions readers who received unsolicited CITGO text messages and submitted valid and timely claims say they’ve started receiving checks as large as $1,140.92.

An update on the CITGO settlement website says payment distributions were completed on Feb. 5, so other qualifying Class Members should watch for their checks to arrive in their mailboxes within the next few days.

The deadline for filing a claim was Dec. 14, 2017.

This CITGO class action settlement is the result of claims brought in November 2016 by plaintiff Matthew Gottlieb. Gottlieb says he received text messages from Citgo or its agent advertising a CITGO mobile app and inviting him to enter into a contest to win gift cards or free gas for a year.

Gottlieb claims he never gave CITGO his phone number and that he certainly didn’t give CITGO permission to send him advertising text messages. He believes the company got his phone number after he entered a CITGO-sponsored contest in July 2015. He notes that his phone number has been on the National Do Not Call Registry since September 2008.

Gottlieb argues these CITGO text messages were sent in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA. The TCPA was passed in 1991 to curb massive amounts of telemarketing phone calls and fax transmissions sent using automated dialing equipment or prerecorded announcements. It has since been amended to apply similar restrictions to SMS text messages and phone calls sent to mobile phones.

The TCPA also set up the National Do Not Call Registry. Persons who don’t want to receive telemarketing texts or phone calls can add their number to the registry. Telemarketers are then on notice that they should not call that number.

The TCPA allows persons who receive a non-compliant phone call or text message to file a civil lawsuit against the sender. Violations that the plaintiff can prove were made knowingly or willfully may qualify for statutory damage awards of $500 to $1,500 each.

Under the CITGO TCPA class action settlement, CITGO agreed to put up an $8 million settlement fund. Payments were to be distributed on a pro rata basis among qualifying Class Members who submitted valid and timely claims.

CITGO insists it has done nothing wrong, and that it agreed to this settlement only to avoid the risk and costs associated with ongoing litigation.

Congratulations to our Top Class Actions readers who submitted a valid claim and got PAID! If you missed out, sign up for our free newsletter to receive updates on new class action lawsuits and settlements. You can also check out which class action settlements are still accepting claims in our Open Class Action Settlements section.

The CITGO settlement Class Members are represented by Jeff M. Ostrow, Avi R. Kaufman and Scott Edelsberg of Kopelowitz Ostrow Ferguson Weiselberg Gilbert, and by Andrew J. Shamis of Shamis & Gentile PA.

The CITGO Text Message Spam Class Action Settlement is Matthew Gottlieb v. CITGO Petroleum Corporation, Case No. 9:16-cv-81911-RLR, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Palm Beach Division.

Join a Free TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were contacted on your cell phone by a company via an unsolicited text message (text spam) or prerecorded voice message (robocall), you may be eligible for compensation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

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