Spam calls · FloridaRobocalls and sales calls you never asked for. Some of them break the law.

Last reviewed October 18, 2026 by Jackson McMillan, Florida attorney

Short answer: You may be able to sue if a business robocalled your cell phone without your consent, or made more than one sales call in a year to a number on the Do Not Call Registry. Federal law sets $500 per violation, Florida adds its own law, and many scam callers can't be found.

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When is a spam call or robocall illegal?

Most legal claims come from two kinds of calls. One is a robocall, meaning a call that uses a recorded, artificial, or AI-generated voice, or an autodialed call or text, made without the consent the law requires. The other is a sales call to a number on the Do Not Call list. A single call can be both.

The main federal law is the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA. Congress passed it in 1991 to rein in telemarketing and automated calls, and it lets the person who received illegal calls sue the company responsible. Florida has its own law, the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, covered further down this page.

A few terms come up again and again:

• Prerecorded message. A voice recorded ahead of time and played when you pick up or left on your voicemail. The FCC has ruled that an AI-generated or cloned voice is an "artificial" voice under the TCPA, so those calls need the same consent as recorded ones.
• Autodialer. The TCPA's term is "automatic telephone dialing system." Since the Supreme Court's 2021 decision in Facebook v. Duguid, it means equipment that can store or produce phone numbers using a random or sequential number generator. A system that just dials a saved list of customer numbers usually doesn't qualify.
• Do Not Call Registry. The national list, run by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at donotcall.gov, where you can register your home or personal cell number to opt out of most sales calls. Registration is free and never expires.
• Telemarketing. A call or message meant to get you to buy, rent, or invest in something. Many of the strictest rules apply only to these sales calls.

Can a company robocall my cell phone without my permission?

Generally, no. A company needs your prior express consent before it calls your cell phone using an autodialer or a recorded or artificial voice, emergencies aside. That rule covers every kind of call, not only sales pitches, so a debt collector's or a political campaign's robocalls to your cell can be covered too.

When the robocall is a sales pitch, the bar is higher. The caller needs your prior express written consent: a signed agreement (an electronic signature counts) that names the seller and your phone number and clearly tells you that you are agreeing to automated or prerecorded marketing calls and that you don't have to agree in order to buy anything (47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(2), (f)(9)). Simply giving a company your number is not written consent.

Home landlines get similar protection: a prerecorded or artificial-voice sales call to a residential landline also needs prior express written consent. Some non-sales recorded calls to a landline, such as political or nonprofit calls, are allowed without consent if the caller keeps to three calls in 30 days and honors requests to opt out.

Under this robocall part of the TCPA, a text message counts as a call. After Duguid, though, most claims about automated texts are hard to win, because the sender usually has to have used the narrow kind of autodialer the Supreme Court described. Recorded and AI voice claims are a different story: Duguid doesn't touch them, so if the call used a recorded or synthetic voice, the autodialer question drops out. My guide to robocalls you never agreed to goes deeper.

If you once agreed to calls and changed your mind, you can take that consent back. Replying STOP to a text and keeping a screenshot is the simplest proof that you did. My page on calls that continue after you asked them to stop explains the rules now in force.

What if my number is on the Do Not Call list?

Telemarketers may not make sales calls to a residential number on the National Do Not Call Registry. To sue under the federal Do Not Call section, though, you need more than one sales call within a 12-month period by or on behalf of the same company. A single call is not enough under the TCPA, however annoying it was.

A few more rules shape these claims:

• The 31-day window. After you register, it can take up to 31 days for sales calls to stop, because telemarketers may work from a copy of the Registry up to 31 days old. Calls in that first month may not count.
• Personal cell phones. The FCC applies the Do Not Call rules to wireless numbers, and courts often treat a registered cell phone used for personal purposes as "residential." A phone used mainly for business may not qualify.
• Exemptions. The Registry covers sales calls only. Political calls, debt collection, surveys without a sales pitch, calls from tax-exempt nonprofits, and calls from a company you recently did business with are generally outside it.
• Company lists. Every company that telemarkets to homes must also keep its own do-not-call list and honor your request to be put on it within 10 business days.

Texts are the gray area here. Whether marketing texts count as "telephone calls" for a federal Do Not Call lawsuit is unsettled. Several federal judges in Florida and Georgia, and a federal appeals court in July 2026, have said they don't; other courts disagree, and the question is reportedly on appeal in the Eleventh Circuit, the federal appeals court whose decisions bind Florida's federal courts. I won't promise federal Do Not Call damages for texts. My guide to being on the Do Not Call list but still getting calls walks through each rule.

Does Florida have its own law against spam calls and texts?

Yes. The Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, or FTSA, covers sales calls, texts, and voicemails to Floridians. It bars certain automated sales calls made without written consent, sales calls to numbers on Florida's no-sales-solicitation list, and further contact after you tell a seller to stop. Calls to Florida area codes are presumed to reach someone in Florida.

The FTSA reaches "telephonic sales calls": calls, texts, or voicemails meant to sell you consumer goods, services, or credit, or to gather information for a sales pitch. It does not cover political, survey, or debt collection calls (Fla. Stat. § 501.059(1)).

• Automated sales calls. A company may not make an unsolicited sales call that uses an automated system for the selection and dialing of numbers, or that plays a recorded message when the call connects, without your prior express written consent. Under the FTSA, that consent can be given by checking a box or replying "yes" to a text. Courts haven't settled exactly what equipment the "selection and dialing" wording reaches.
• What "unsolicited" leaves out. Calls you asked for, calls about a debt you already owe or a contract not yet finished, calls from a business you have or had a relationship with, and newspaper calls.
• Florida's own list. Florida keeps a free no-sales-solicitation list, and a number stays on it indefinitely. By statute it includes Florida numbers from the national Registry, but whether a national listing alone supports a Florida claim is unsettled, so register on both. Unlike the federal rule, the FTSA's text does not require more than one call.
• Stop means stop. Once you tell a seller you don't want its calls, texts, or voicemails, no one may contact you again on that seller's behalf.
• Texts: reply STOP, then wait. Before suing for damages over sales texts, you must reply STOP to the number that texted you. The company then has 15 days to stop and may send one confirmation. A damages claim exists only if you hadn't consented and the texts keep coming more than 15 days after your STOP. See spam texts in Florida.

You may have heard that Florida bans sales calls after 8 p.m. That rule exists, along with a limit of three calls in 24 hours on the same subject, but it sits in a different statute, the Florida Telemarketing Act (Fla. Stat. § 501.616). Its remedy is actual and punitive damages plus attorney's fees, not a $500 award, and many sellers are exempt from it.

Can I sue robocallers who turn out to be scammers?

Usually not in any practical way. Many illegal robocalls come from scammers who fake their caller ID, switch numbers constantly, or operate overseas. A lawsuit needs a defendant you can name, serve with papers, and collect from. Even the FTC says the Do Not Call Registry won't stop calls from scammers.

The calls worth a case review usually come from, or for, a real business you can name: a company selling solar panels, auto warranties, health insurance, or home services. A seller that hires telemarketers or lead generators can be held responsible for their illegal calls under ordinary agency rules, and the federal Do Not Call section expressly covers calls made "by or on behalf of" a company.

Finding the real seller is often the hardest part. When a caller names a product, a website, or a company, write it down. Don't play along or fake interest to dig for more before you talk to a lawyer; pretending to be interested can muddy the facts and may even create the kind of business relationship that an exemption depends on.

Here is what I can and can't do. I can review your records, work to connect the calls to a seller when the evidence allows, and tell you whether you have a claim against a company that can actually pay. I can't reach an anonymous scam operation overseas, and I won't file against a company I can't tie to the calls.

What is a spam call lawsuit worth?

It depends on the call, your consent, any exemption, and whether you can prove who was behind it. For robocalls without the required consent, the TCPA sets $500 per violation. For Do Not Call violations, it allows up to $500 per call. A court may raise either amount to as much as $1,500 per violation for willful or knowing conduct.

Under both TCPA sections you recover your actual losses or that statutory amount, whichever is greater, and you can ask the court to order the calls stopped (47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3), (c)(5)). The increase for willful or knowing violations is up to the court, not automatic. In a Do Not Call case, a company also has a defense if it proves it had reasonable procedures in place to prevent violations.

The FTSA works similarly: actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, and a court may increase the award up to three times for willful or knowing violations (Fla. Stat. § 501.059(10)).

So not every spam call is worth $500. Value depends on the call type, consent, exemptions, the two-call rule for Do Not Call claims, the autodialer limits after Duguid, and, above all, finding a defendant who can pay. Some callers can't be identified, and some that can don't have the money to cover a judgment.

Attorney's fees work differently under the two laws. The federal TCPA has no provision that makes a company pay your attorney's fees, even if you win. Under the FTSA, the prevailing party recovers attorney's fees and costs (Fla. Stat. § 501.059(11)(a)), and that cuts both ways: if you bring an FTSA claim and lose, a court can order you to pay the company's attorney's fees. I go over that risk with you before any FTSA claim is filed. You don't pay me unless you win. I take these cases on contingency: no attorney's fees and no case costs owed to me unless you recover money. If a case is lost, a court can sometimes order the losing side to pay the other side's court costs, and some Florida laws, including the security deposit and deceptive practices statutes, also let the winner recover attorney's fees from the loser. I explain that risk before anything is filed, and every term is in a written agreement before you sign.

How long do I have to sue over spam calls?

For federal TCPA claims, generally four years from each call, under the federal catch-all deadline for laws passed after 1990. The FTSA doesn't state its own deadline. Florida's four-year limit for claims based on a statute will likely apply, but no court decision settles that, so don't plan around the outer edge.

Because each call has its own date, the oldest calls are the first to fall outside the window. If a debt collector is the one calling, Florida's collection law has a shorter, two-year deadline; see my page on debt collector harassment.

What records help prove a spam call case?

Proof wins or loses these claims, and phones erase history. Screenshots of your call log, saved voicemails, and screenshots of texts are the core. A voicemail is especially useful because it shows whether the voice was recorded or artificial. Your Do Not Call confirmation proves the date you registered.

Beyond that, keep your phone carrier's call logs or bills, write down any company or product the caller named, and note how the company might have gotten your number, including anything you signed or submitted online. My checklist on how to document spam calls includes a call diary you can copy.

What to do today

• Check your registration at donotcall.gov, or by calling 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want to check, and keep the confirmation email. Add your number to Florida's list too.
• Capture the call history: a screenshot per screen of calls, with the date and time visible, fake-looking numbers included.
• Save every voicemail and screenshot every sales text, including any STOP reply you sent and what came back.
• Write down names: any company, product, website, or callback number the caller gave.
• Don't call back to argue or press buttons to "find out more." Just keep records.
• Send me what you have. Request a free case review with your screenshots and voicemails, and I'll tell you whether the calls fit a federal or Florida claim against a company that can be found.

Guides by situation

Pick the page closest to what is happening to you. Each one explains the rules that apply and what to do next.

• You told them to stop calling. The calls kept coming.Told a company to stop calling or texting and it kept going? How to revoke consent, how long a company has to honor it, and Florida law. Free case review.
• On the Do Not Call list and still getting sales calls?Still getting sales calls after joining the Do Not Call list? Learn the 31-day rule, the two-call rule, exemptions, and Florida's own list. Free case review.
• Robocalls you never agreed to? Most need your consent first.Prerecorded or AI-voice robocalls you never agreed to? When Florida and federal law require consent, and what a claim can be worth. Free case review.
• Spam calls or robocalls in Tampa? Know your rights.Robocalls or spam texts hitting your Tampa phone? See when federal and Florida law let you sue, where a Tampa case is filed, and what to save. Free case review.
• Spam texts in Florida? Some of them break the law.Marketing texts you never signed up for? Florida law covers spam texts, but you must reply STOP and wait 15 days before suing. What to know. Free case review.

Sources: 47 U.S.C. §§ 227(a), 227(b), 227(c)(5); 47 C.F.R. §§ 64.1200(a), 64.1200(c), 64.1200(d), 64.1200(e), 64.1200(f); Fla. Stat. §§ 501.059, 501.616; 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a); Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021); Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, 577 U.S. 153 (2016); FCC Declaratory Ruling on AI-generated voices, FCC 24-17 (released February 8, 2024); Federal Trade Commission, National Do Not Call Registry FAQs. Last reviewed October 18, 2026.