DNC Scrubbing for SMS and Text Message Campaigns
A lot of teams treat SMS as a lighter-touch channel that somehow sits outside the rules that govern calling. It doesn't. Under the TCPA, a text message is treated as a call, which means the same consent requirements, the same Do Not Call considerations, and the same $500 to $1,500 per-message statutory damages apply.
Texts are calls under the TCPA
Courts have consistently held that an SMS to a wireless number is a "call" for TCPA purposes. Because virtually every text goes to a mobile number, and mobile numbers get the strictest treatment under the statute, a bulk SMS blast to an unscrubbed list is arguably riskier than a voice campaign, not safer.
What to scrub before you send
- The National Do Not Call Registry — the same federal list that governs voice calls.
- Your internal opt-out list — anyone who replied STOP or otherwise asked you to stop.
- Honeypot and trap numbers — texting one has the same reputation consequences as calling it.
- Consent age — old consent carries reassignment risk, and a reassigned number means a stranger.
Per-message damages add up fast
The math is unforgiving. A 50,000-recipient SMS campaign to a list you didn't scrub, with even a small percentage of registered or reassigned numbers, generates aggregate exposure that dwarfs the cost of scrubbing. Cleaning a list of that size costs a few dollars; a single settled claim costs far more.
We walk through the damages arithmetic in what a TCPA violation really costs, and the broader consent picture in TCPA rules for text messages.
Carrier Fence scrubs any list — voice or SMS — against DNC and honeypot data in one pass. Try it free on 500 numbers before your next send.
General information, not legal advice.