NO HIDING: Use Phone Numbers 415-513-0735 and 415-481-0205? Court Grants Expedited Discovery to Find Out Who You Are

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Federal law requires a marketer to identify themselves at the outset of every call.

But not every marketer follows the law. Many–particularly offshore call centers working with lead generators here in the states– will use fake names and refuse to share their identity.

Well in Gray v. John Doe, 2025 WL 3022874 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 29, 2025) a consumer sued the unknown individuals behind unwanted marketing calls he was receiving. And when the couldn’t figure out their identities he asked the court for help.

In its ruling yesterday the Court granted early permission to the plaintiff to subpoena carriers to find out who owns the numbers:

Plaintiff has demonstrated a prima facie claim for violations of the TCPA. The TCPA generally prohibits the use of an Automated Telephone Dialing System, except for emergency purposes or with the prior express consent of the called party. 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A). Plaintiff alleges Defendants violated the TCPA by calling his phone without prior express consent and using an artificial or prerecorded voice to deliver telemarketing messages. Compl. ¶ 14. The TCPA provides a private cause of action for violations of the Act. 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3).

Accordingly, the Court finds good cause exists to permit Plaintiff to propound early limited discovery to determine Defendants’ identities and addresses for service.

So there you go. No hiding. If you are a marketer who thinks you can evade the law– think again.

But really, there’s no reason to hide– there is plenty of money out there for companies that want to do things the right way. Troutman Amin, LLP helps the good guys win– and helps keep the bad guys out of the ecosystem.

Give us a call sometime.

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.

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