Is a TCPA demand letter real?
Usually, yes. A genuine letter lists the exact calls or texts, cites 47 U.S.C. § 227, and comes from a sender you can find in a state corporate registry. Scams skip the detail and ask for untraceable payment.
Most TCPA demand letters are real in the sense that matters: they describe calls or text messages that were made, and the law they cite gives the person called a right to sue. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227, allows $500 per violation and up to $1,500 if the violation was willful or knowing. A demand letter is what the recipient of the calls, or a company acting for them, sends before filing.
Three checks
- Does it list specific calls or texts? Numbers, dates, times, content. A real claim is built from phone records, so a real letter shows them.
- Can you find the sender? Search the exact entity name in the state corporate registry on the letterhead. Type the domain into a browser yourself. Look up any lawyer named in the state bar directory.
- Are the calls in your own logs? Pull the dialer or messaging export for the dates listed, including anything a vendor sent for you.
A letter that passes all three is describing a real matter. A letter that lists nothing specific, comes from a webmail address with no registered entity behind it, and wants payment by gift card, cryptocurrency or wire to a person is a fraud, and the fraud is the pressure to pay before you check.
Once a letter is real, the useful question is no longer whether it is a scam but what the listed calls are worth and what to do about them.
People also ask
Does a real demand letter have to come from a lawyer?
No. The person who received the call has a private right of action and can have a company pursue the claim before it is referred to a lawyer. A demand letter is correspondence, not a court filing.
What if my records show no calls on those dates?
Check every system that can dial or message for you, including vendors and lead generators, before concluding that. If nothing anywhere matches, say so in writing with the exports attached.
Should I pay to make it go away?
Not before verifying the sender, matching the calls against your logs, and receiving a written release that names every listed call. Payment without those three steps buys nothing certain.