FRAUDULENT TCPA SUIT?: Court Lays Out PERFECT Fraud Claim Against Repeat TCPA Litigator Daniel Human

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For those eager for proof TCPA litigators invent cases to make a buck, boy do I have a case for you.

In Human v. Fisher Investments, 2025 WL 2614039 (E.D. Miss Sept. 10, 2025) the Court called out repeat TCPA-litigator Daniel Human’s “egregious misconduct” and allowed a fraud claim against him to go forward.

Really interesting ruling here.

First, the court noted Human disposed of computer—”the key piece of evidence in this matter”—hours before a forensic exam was set to go forward. Crazy.

The Court called this “egregious misconduct” and determined Fisher was entitled to an “adverse inference”–meaning the fact finder could assume damaging evidence was on that computer. (I wonder what it was.)

At deposition  Human apparently invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination dozens of times when questioned about the fraud Fischer alleges. Pretty telling. And, again, the court said an “adverse inference” as to his testimony would be permitted.

But my favorite part was the outcome of the forensic review of Human’s cellular phone. This review revealed receipt of “text messages addressed to at least a dozen different
names” and contained “hardly any text messages addressed to” Human.

Nuts right?

The guy’s phone was essentially being used to set up TCPA lawsuits. As the Court said:

“[t]his perfectly fits Fisher’s allegation that Human, or someone acting at his request, provides his contact information, along with a fake name, to entities to solicit calls from them, which then appear to be unsolicited by Human himself. Even the sheer number of civil actions Human has filed under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act suggests fraud. See Fed. R. Evid. 404(b)(2) (providing prior crimes, wrongs, or acts may be admissible for proving motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of accident). Human filed over sixty-five TCPA actions in a one-year period. See In re: Daniel A. Human, 4:25-bk-41618, ECF No. 1 at 34–41 (Bankr. E.D. Mo. Apr. 29, 2025) (listing cases). The idea that Human received unsolicited phone calls from so many legitimate entities in violation of the TCPA “taxes the credulity of the credulous.” Cf. Maryland v. King, 569 U.S. 435, 466 (2013) (Scalia, J., dissenting). 

Just beautiful.

Pretty clear lesson here for TCPA defendants:

  1. Get the repeat litigator’s phone;
  2. Review their text messages;
  3. Sue them for fraud if they are misbehaving.

Really nice work by Fisher here. Hope they keep this guy’s feet to the fire.

In other news, have you seen our interview with Kimmel & Silverman’s Jake Ginsburg? Its out now wherever you enjoy the Deserve to Win podcast. (Apple, Spotify, YouTube, YouDeserveToWin.com to name a few.)

Right here, right now!

Chat soon.

 

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Published by Eric "Czar" Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems. Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience. While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail. Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure. Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense. In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues.

1 Comment

  1. WOW A lot to unpack in this one!

    First, I’m not condoning what certainly appears to be the fraud described. Now I do have some random observations…

    1) The obviously top of their game/s forensic expert that has the sheer audacity to claim and I quote: “…review revealed receipt of ‘text messages addressed to at least a dozen different names’ and contained ‘hardly any text messages addressed to’ Human.” So clearly got some trouble with basic arithmetic, eh? re: counting past 12?!?! At least a dozen, how about just how many in reality!!?!?! Even better: “…hardly any text messages addressed to Human” OK please define ‘hardly any’ And this expert testimony is somehow believable, let alone admissible?!?!?

    2) Selectively invoking the 5th in this case doesn’t bode well…but hey on TV it works – duh

    3) “Human admitted to disposing of a computer—the key piece of evidence in this matter—hours before a forensic exam was set to go forward.” Holy crap! (More to come on this later)

    4) Noteworthy is Human is claiming 6 phone calls (no texts) but even states “…and though Plaintiff indicated that he could not take the call…” I don’t see any hint of revocation in that – its almost inviting future calls when he CAN take the call…can you say ‘Inquiry EBR boys & girls’?
    https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.moed.214336/gov.uscourts.moed.214336.33.0.pdf

    5) I figured this must be a pro se case but the amended complaint shows and I will out them – as it’s public record – and so nobody else retains this clown. Butler Law Group in MO https://www.butlerlawstl.com/ Their 2 stated practice areas: Family Law & Estate Planning!! WTH!!??!! Figured he’d at least hire a straight up ambulance chaser. Maybe using Butler as he wouldn’t see the glaring holes in his case?

    6) At least 2 other cases of fraud counter-suits resulting from TCPA suits. “Other civil actions alleging fraud by Human, which Human settled, may have had more
    smoking-gun-type evidence. See, e.g., Human v. STL Design & Build, LLC, 4:23-cv-0684-MTS, ECF No. 12 ¶ 15–16 (E.D. Mo. June 30, 2023) (counter-suing Human for fraud and alleging that Human’s IP address was used to make an online inquiry with the defendant-business); PolicyScout LLC v. Human, 2:23-cv-0937 (D. Utah)”

    7) Now here’s where it gets even better…the case that Eric listed revealing the 65 TCPA cases he’s filed, is from his Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing.
    https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.moeb.463407/gov.uscourts.moeb.463407.1.0.pdf

    8) Some random nuggets from that doc. His claimed asset value of his electronics: $100 = computer & cell phone. Hmmm…

    9) Only income $1627/mo in Social Security benefits. And both assets & liabilities: $0-50,000 range. Owes IRS $5500+

    10) Lists 3 default judgements totaling $154,500.50 But he is not sure if they are collectable. Also, three pending cases pro se.

    11) 45+ of his TCPA cases have concluded. Majority of the cases in 2024 but go back to 2020. So he had no income/assets from those?

    Essentially this is a total SH*T SHOW. Can’t wait to see this play out 😉

    Reply

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