WHAT IF?: WHAT IF HOLDINGS LLC D/B/A C4R MEDIA CORP Sued in TCPA Class Action Alleging Robotext Bombardment

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The lead generation world is full of questionable characters– we learned about Rich Nolan headed to prison recently (and from what I am hearing he won’t be the last)– but in my opinion the lowest of the low is the sweepstakes model.

You know how this works.

Website advertising gift cards or cash prizes. All the consumer has to do is fill out a form and provide their contact information–sometimes answering a few questions along the way.

Now done correctly a first-party sweepstakes can be quite useful to a brand. But gimmick third-party sweepstakes lead generation involving random cash prizes is generally just a cesspool in my view.

That brings me to a new lawsuit filed against WHAT IF HOLDINGS LLC D/B/A C4R MEDIA CORP.

What If is sort of the poster child for third-party sweepstakes lead generation. It has been a prominent part of their model for as long as I can recall. Which has always put them outside of R.E.A.C.H.– which seeks to end potentially abusive practices related to consumer data usage through practices like sweepstakes– whereas other trade organizations have welcomed them right in.

Cool.

Well in RYLEIGH STARLING vs. WHAT IF HOLDINGS LLC D/B/A C4R MEDIA CORP.  Plaintiff claims her phone as absolutely blown up with text messages directed for a person named “Cody.”

The Plaintiff claims she never signed up for the messages and that her name is not Cody so the messages must have been intended for someone else.

And the screenshots provided are nuts.

She was getting 4 texts in a 30 minute period from these guys allegedly attempting to lure her in to play some lottery-esque sweepstakes. Wonder if this is legal outside of TCPA concerns. Hmmm.

I mean look at these messages:

“If you’re ready and we think you are.. there’s a shot at $50k just a click away.”

“Hoping you winning number will be pulled? Don’t wait! Submit your entry NOW.”

Eesh.

Creating urgency. Suggesting, perhaps, superior odds of winning than are disclosed. Feels very UDAAPy. But what do I know?

Per the complaint:

“The continued messages included links to the Defendant’s websites, OMGSweeps.co (which contains an Oregon mailing address) and BestDayEverSweeps.co.”

These websites are allegedly owned by What if.

The complaint further alleges:

“Defendant operates as a lead generator that offers “sweepstakes” that people can enter into in exchange for providing their personal information, which Defendant then sells to advertisers looking to sell a particular good or service which are offered both on Defendant’s website and also via subsequent follow-ups.”

Sounds right. We’ll need to see if any of this turns out to be true, however.

The complaint seeks to represent the following classes:

National DNC Class: All persons in the United States whose (1) telephone
numbers were on the National Do Not Call Registry for at least 31 days, (2) but who
received more than one telemarketing call or text message from or on behalf of Defendant
encouraging the purchase of C4R goods or services, (3) within a 12-month period (4) at
any time in the period that begins four years before the date of filing this Complaint to trial.

Telemarketing Caller ID Class: All persons within the United States to whom:
(1) Defendant (or a third-party acting on behalf of Defendant) sent (2) two or more
telemarketing calls or text messages in a 12-month period, (3) which either (a) did not
transmit a CPN or ANI at all or (b) transmitted a CPN or ANI that would not have allowed
an individual to make a do not call request during regular business hours, (4) within the
four years prior to the filing of the Complaint.

You can read the full complaint here: What if Complaint

Who knows, maybe this is all baloney. We’ll have to wait and see.

Unfortunately nobody from What If Holdings is likely to speak at Law Conference of Champions IV this year. haha. But it will be a GREAT to place meet COMPLIANT companies that both buy and sell tremendous leads. Folks like Andrew Bach of Veterans United Home Loans, for example.

Something to think about.

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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