DENIED!: Abstrakt Stuck in TCPA Suit Based on “Voicemail Drops”

Hi TCPAWorld! My name is Iryna and I wanted to report an interesting case.

We all know that one of the outlawed TCPA practices is using an artificial or prerecorded voice, without express consent of the called person.

In Edward Newman Jr. v. Abstrakt Marketing Group, LLC, 2026 WL 1129565, the court denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss, or to strike Plaintiff’s allegations because allegations in the complaint were sufficient to demonstrate prerecorded technology was used.

Background.

The Complaint alleged that Abstrakt is a lead generation company that calls businesses to solicit its lead generation services. As part of that effort, Abstrakt promotes on its webpage using “voicemail drops” – a calling software that allows users to send prerecord voice messages and automatically delivers them to a recipients’ inbox after a call is unanswered.

The Plaintiff, Newman, allegedly received an unsolicited call to his cell phone that went unanswered.  The caller left a voicemail which Newman believed was pre-recorded because it was generic, the audio quality was distorted, the voicemail tone and diction was monotone, there was no background noise or ambient sounds, and because the voicemail ended abruptly and unnaturally. Because of this, Newman sued Abstrakt for violating the TCPA.

Abstrakt moved to dismiss the complaint arguing that the allegations in the Complaint were insufficient to demonstrate receipt of a prerecorded call.

The court determined that Newman plausibly alleged the voicemail was prerecorded. Because Abstract is a lead generation company promoting calling to generate the business and it extols on its website that “voicemail drops” are a “must-have feature” for calling explaining that “Sales reps often leave the same voicemail over and over”, the court took into consideration the contents of Abstrakt webpage in deciding the motion to dismiss.

Secondly, the court pointed out that the voicemail Newman received never greeted him by name. Instead, the voicemail generically greeted its recipient with just “Hello,” before launching into the sales pitch which suggested that the voicemail was prerecorded and can be used for multiple recipients.

Notably, the court stated that either a distorted or an undistorted message with or without natural pauses, shifts in tone, and a natural end can be prerecorded. The fact that “a real person … left the message” and that the message contains natural pauses and shifts in tone, making it “sound like a message left by a real, live person” does not lead to the opposite conclusion. Real people can send prerecord messages with their real voice. Nothing about voicemail sounding like it is from a real person, or even actually being from a real person, makes it implausible that it was prerecorded. Id.  Also, the court stated that there is neither need to allege that a message sounded artificial or robotic, nor alleging that multiple identical messages were received, nor alleging that the caller failed to alter their tone of voice in interacting with him or that the caller was non-responsive to his questions.

As a result, courts will allow a TCPA case move forward if the plaintiff gives enough common-sense details to suggest a voicemail was prerecorded. In Edward Newman Jr. v. Abstrakt Marketing Group, LLC, the court showed that realistic-sounding messages can still be prerecorded, and basic facts can be enough to support a claim under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.