Lawsuit Against DemandScience Highlights SIM Swapping Risks for Crypto Owners
On Monday, February 2, Christopher Galli filed a first amended class action complaint in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts against DemandScience US, LLC, alleging violations of the Colorado Prevention of Telemarketing Fraud Act (PTFA). The case seeks a jury trial and represents a class of individuals similarly situated to Galli.
The complaint centers on DemandScience US, LLC’s practice of listing cellular telephone numbers of Colorado residents in its for-sale directory without obtaining affirmative consent. Galli contends that this practice violates Colo. Rev. Stat. § 6-1-304, which prohibits commercially listing a cell phone number in a directory without permission. The lawsuit highlights that this prohibition is designed to protect consumer privacy.
According to the filed document, DemandScience operates a B2B lead generation directory service, compiling and organizing contact details, business categories, industry information, and location data. The company’s directory is available at demandscience.com, where users can search for individuals using filters such as name, job title, company, and location. The complaint alleges that users can view Coloradans’ cell phone numbers, email addresses, job titles, and places of work through this directory.
The lawsuit further alleges that DemandScience monetizes personal details through its directories, some of which are ad-supported and provide users with free access to data, while others furnish reports about people for a fee. A demandscience.com user can click on a specific individual to view a redacted preview of the individual’s contact information. To view the unredacted cell phone number, a user must click a button labeled “Show Info” and spend a credit.
Galli argues that DemandScience’s actions harm Coloradans by depriving them of their PTFA privacy rights and the quantifiable value of their data. The complaint cites a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report on “Data Brokers,” noting potential risks to consumers from data brokers’ collection and use of consumer data, including facilitating harassment, stalking, and exposing individuals to retaliation or harm. The document also highlights the risk of SIM swapping, where hackers take over a target’s phone number, potentially leading to breaches of various accounts, including those holding cryptocurrency. The FBI recommends that people not publicly advertise their phone numbers or financial assets, including ownership or investment of cryptocurrency, on social media sites.
The lawsuit seeks to prevent DemandScience from further violating the privacy rights of Colorado cell phone users and to recover statutory damages. Galli seeks to represent a class of all Colorado residents whose cell phone numbers were listed on demandscience.com without their consent during the applicable statute of limitations period.
The complaint alleges that the class is composed of at least thousands of individuals, making joinder impracticable. Galli claims that his case is typical of the class because, like all other class members, his cell phone number was listed on demandscience.com for a commercial purpose without his affirmative consent.
The lawsuit seeks declaratory relief, injunctive and equitable relief, damages of at least three hundred dollars and not more than five hundred dollars for each first offense, and at least five hundred dollars and not more than one thousand dollars for each second or subsequent offense, and reasonable attorneys’ fees and other litigation costs.
Please contact BlockTribune for access to a copy of this filing.
