Cruise Line Violated Florida Email Spam Laws, Says New York Man

A man alleges Caribbean Cruise Line, Inc. violated Florida’s email spam laws by sending him unsolicited and misleading advertisements over email.

Plaintiff Todd C. Bank said he received two emails that were each categorized as an “unsolicited commercial electronic mail message” as defined by Florida laws. In the subject line of each email were the words, “You won a cruise to the Bahamas.”

According to the complaint, Bank had not won the cruise because the same cruise was allegedly available to the general public and the cruise line did not even know Bank’s identity. In addition, upon further reading, Bank determined he had not “won” a cruise, which would generally be interpreted that the cruise would be free of charge.

Instead, if he accepted the cruise “prize,” Bank would be responsible for port charges and government taxes of $59 per person and a fuel supplement charge up to $9 per person per day.

Florida’s Email Spam Laws

Florida’s Electronic Mail Communications Act
is designed to protect consumers from being targeted by deceptive and unsolicited commercial emails, also referred to as spam or junk email.

Not all spam is illegal because certain conditions must be met. According to the Florida Office of the Attorney General, prohibited email is sent for commercial or business purposes; was unsolicited and not from a person with whom you have engaged in a business transaction or had a prior relationship; and was received by a Florida resident OR sent from a computer located in the state of Florida.

To qualify as an illegal spam email in Florida, the email also MUST contain any one of the following:

• Misleading or false information in the subject line;
• A fake header that presents false or hidden routing information or in any way inhibits you from seeing the path of the email from the sending party;
• False or deceptive information in the email body designed to incur damage, such as a computer virus.

Spammers are becoming savvier because they know consumers are more suspicious of emails from unknown sources. LinkedIn was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging it used user email addresses and contact information without permission to send advertising emails as if they were coming from that user.

Some emails will appear to be from someone you know, maybe even your boss, but if you look closer at the routing portion of the sender’s email address, you might see telltale signs that the email was sent from elsewhere. In other cases, a spammer might include an official-looking seal in his or her signature line in an attempt to appear legitimate.

Spam emails might include links or attachments that are apt to be infected with computer viruses, so never open an attachment or click on a link in a suspicious email. In addition, don’t click on the “unsubscribe” button on a suspicious spam email, either, because that action will let the sender know a live person has responded, which can lead to further spam emails from other people or entities.

Florida is one of 37 states that have enacted email spam laws in an effort to protect vulnerable consumers and legitimate businesses from junk email. Many states also regulate adult-oriented email advertisements.

The Email Spam Laws Class Action Lawsuit is Todd C. Bank v. Caribbean Cruise Line, Inc., Case No. 1:11-cv-02744-MKB-VVP in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Join a Free Email Spam Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you are a Florida resident and received emails from a business that contained false or misleading information in the subject line, OR if you received an email from a Florida business that contained false or misleading information in the subject line, you may be able to join a Florida email class action lawsuit investigation.

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