40 Years in IT. Now Fighting Spam Calls and Texts.

Ted Herring

Ted spent 40 years working in information technology before founding TakeBackMyPhone. He's not a lawyer. He's a consumer who got sick of illegal spam calls and texts — and decided to do something about it.

In the summer of 2025, Ted paid for a course to learn how to fight back against illegal robocalls. It covered the federal TCPA well — but had almost nothing to say about state-level laws. When he posted in the course forum asking about the upcoming September 1, 2025 go-live date for the new Texas law, he got no real help. So he turned to AI to find the answers himself.

What he found changed everything. Chapter 302 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code gives individual consumers a private right of action against companies that call or text into Texas without registering in the state. A single violation carries up to $5,000 in statutory damages — on top of what's already recoverable under federal TCPA. Texas also treats spam texts and MMS messages exactly the same as illegal phone calls. The math adds up fast: every qualifying violation is potentially worth $5,500–$6,500 to the consumer who pursues it.

Ted put several AI tools to work — researching violators, drafting demand letters, and preparing small claims court filings. The results surprised even him. He has collected multiple settlements directly from the companies that violated his rights, without hiring an attorney.

Based on that experience, he built an AI-assisted tool into the TakeBackMyPhone course that walks any member through the same process — no legal background required. All you need to do is track your calls and texts and answer a few simple questions. He built TakeBackMyPhone to put these techniques in the hands of every American consumer who is fed up with being a target.

"I spent 40 years watching technology get more complicated. AI finally made something simpler — holding lawbreakers accountable."