We have more newsletters

Spam and scam texts are at an all-time high.

But while you might feel powerless against the neverending tide of chancers, robocalls, and grifters, it is actually possible to get your own back

At least that's what one American man has done. After suing an insurance company for sending him nuisance spam texts, David Weekly says he won $1200 (around £1000) in court for breaking a law against spamming.

READ NEXT: Victory for Kim Kardashian as Instagram says it will cancel TikTok-style updates

Weekly, from California, told VICE: "It was just kind of fun, surreal moment, like holy cr*p. I'm holding an actual check from a party who sent me a spam text message and apologised for it.

Weekly announced the big win on on Twitter where he said: "I sued a spammer! Did you know you have a right to sue folks that send you unsolicited text messages or calls?"

Weekly explained that he did this by finding out who sent the text, sending them a notice with 10 days notice to respond, then filing a small claims lawsuit.

He said: "At this point you probably will get their attention since if they ignore you now and you show up to court you will almost certainly win a default judgement against them and the courts will seize from them what you are owed."

• 

  Ditch your TV for a gaming projector if you never want to leave the house again

While Weekly's advice applies to the US, there are also ways to get back at spammers here in the UK.

In 2006, engineer Nigel Roberts became the first person to beat a company in court for breaching anti-spam law.

He won a £300 settlement and said: "This is a small victory. But perhaps some spammers will now start to realise that people in Europe won't tolerate their email inboxes being filled with unwanted junk."

Meanwhile, in 2019, a Londoner named Michael Green won £150 from the job seeking site CV Library after taking it to court for spamming him with emails.

READ MORE:

• Russia is starting to beat Ukraine and Anonymous in cyber-war
• Jigzilla robot to solve world's hardest puzzles and put nerds to shame
• 'Exotic' plant-based woolly mammoth burgers could be 'meatier' than a McDonalds Big Mac
• Brit who lost £150m Bitcoin at dump says he'll give everyone £50 if he can look for it
• SpaceX debris in farmers' gardens could make them 'millions' if they sell it on eBay

• Scams

Source: Read Full Article