Copper Referral Texts Lawsuit: Unsolicited Messages Investigation

Attorneys working with ClassAction.org are investigating whether a class action lawsuit can be filed against Copper for sending potentially illegal text messages to Washington residents.

Specifically, the attorneys are looking into whether Copper’s text referral program—in which existing users are financially incentivized to send precomposed marketing messages to their contacts inviting them to sign up with the app—violates Washington’s Commercial Electronic Mail Act (CEMA). This law makes it illegal for a company to send (or help send) promotional texts to residents without their permission.

As part of their investigation, the attorneys need to hear from Washington residents who have received a referral text from a friend or family member about joining Copper—and still have it. These messages would have likely appeared as an “interruption” to an otherwise private, personal text exchange.

Under the CEMA, recipients of illegal text messages could be owed $500 per violation.

What Is the Washington Commercial Electronic Mail Act?

The Commercial Electronic Mail Act (CEMA) is a state-specific consumer protection law originally passed in 1998 to cut down on unwanted, misleading or otherwise “spammy” emails. In 2003, the law was amended to include provisions to limit the transmission of unsolicited promotional text messages to Washington residents’ cell phones.

The CEMA specifically states that companies are prohibited from initiating or assisting in the transmission of promotional text messages unless the recipient has “clearly and affirmatively consented in advance to receive these text messages.” 

Copper Referral Texts: How Could They Violate the CEMA? 

If Copper didn’t have prior consent before referral messages were sent to existing users’ contacts, the texts could be illegal under the CEMA.

Copper’s referral program works like this: existing users can send friends and family a unique referral link inviting them to join the app. If someone signs up using the link and meets certain criteria, the existing user can get bonus “creds”—for instance, 500 creds. In the app, creds can be exchanged for cash and gift cards.

To refer a friend via text, users simply have to open the app, hit “refer and earn” and select contacts from their phone. The app will then populate a marketing message that can be sent with the touch of a button. An example of one of these marketing texts can be seen below.

Hey! I’m using Copper to make money in my free time, wanna join me? Use my app invite link to sign up: [referral link]”

These messages will appear in the same inbox as the recipient’s otherwise private conversation with the sender.

Washington Spam Text Law: Have Other Lawsuits Been Successful?

Yes, a few settlements have been reached in CEMA class action lawsuits involving referral text message programs.  

For example, in February 2024, a $9 million deal was approved to end allegations that Robinhood Financial broke the CEMA with its refer-a-friend text message program. Additionally, in mid-2025, Block, Inc. agreed to pay a $12.5 million settlement to resolve a proposed class action lawsuit that claimed the company violated the CEMA by incentivizing users to send unsolicited texts to Washington residents through Cash App’s “Invite Friends” referral program.

How Could a Copper Class Action Lawsuit Help?

If filed and successful, a lawsuit could help Washington residents who did not give consent to receive Copper marketing texts recover money for the messages. Under the CEMA, recipients of unlawful text messages could be owed $500 per violation.

A successful Copper lawsuit could also force the company to change how its text referral program operates in Washington.

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