If someone just sent you a threatening text, stop responding, get somewhere safe, and preserve the message before you do anything else. Knowing what to do when someone threatens you over text comes down to a short sequence: don’t engage, screenshot and keep the originals, call 911 if the danger is immediate, and otherwise file a police report as soon as you can. From there you have real options, including a protective order, a report to your wireless carrier, and in some cases a civil lawsuit against the sender. A threatening text can be a federal crime under 18 U.S.C. § 875, carrying up to five years in prison.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 875 – Interstate Communications
Do This in the First Hour
Do not reply. This is the step people most often skip, and skipping it costs them. Responding can escalate the situation, hand the sender information they can use, and muddy a future case about who was threatening whom. The Federal Communications Commission advises against communicating with unknown or unsolicited individuals who send threatening electronic messages.2Federal Communications Commission. Threat and Intimidation Response Guide
If the threat is immediate — a message saying someone is coming to your home, or that they are armed and nearby — call 911. Move to a safe location if you have any reason to believe the sender knows where you are. Physical safety comes before evidence.
Once you are safe, screenshot every threatening message. Each screenshot should capture the sender’s phone number, the full text, and the date and time stamp. Do not delete the originals from your phone. Forensic examination of the original can uncover metadata that screenshots miss, and the FCC specifically recommends preserving the original electronic message rather than deleting it.2Federal Communications Commission. Threat and Intimidation Response Guide
Preserve the Evidence the Right Way
Screenshots alone are a starting point, not a finish line. Courts generally prefer the original messages with their full metadata because screenshots can be edited and are harder to authenticate. Treat screenshots as backup.
- Keep the original thread on your phone. Do not delete it, even after you have screenshots.
- Save screenshots that show the number, the message, and the timestamp. Back them up to a cloud service so they survive if your phone is lost or damaged.
- Forward the messages to a secure email account. This creates another timestamped copy and makes it easy to share with police or a lawyer.
- Write down when you took the screenshots, where you stored them, and who else has handled your phone.
That last step matters more than most people realize. The National Institute of Justice warns that failure to establish a complete chain of custody for any item of evidence can result in it being excluded from trial or given less weight by a jury.3National Institute of Justice. Law 101 Legal Guide for the Forensic Expert – Chain of Custody For text messages, that means keeping the phone secure, not passing it around, and noting every time someone else views the thread.
File a Police Report
Report the threats as soon as you have preserved the evidence. Even if you are unsure the texts rise to the level of a crime, the report creates an official record. If anything escalates later, that early paper trail becomes the context investigators and judges need.
When you go in, bring your phone with the original messages, your screenshots, and any printed copies. Tell officers who the sender is, your relationship to them if any, and what prompted the threats. If there are past incidents, bring documentation of those too. An organized file gets taken more seriously than a vague verbal complaint.
When Federal Agencies Step In
Text messages travel through cellular networks that cross state lines, which brings them within federal jurisdiction. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center accepts reports about cyber-enabled crimes and advises filing even when you are not sure the situation qualifies. For threats involving terrorism, the FBI maintains a separate tip line at tips.fbi.gov.4Internet Crime Complaint Center. IC3 Home Page
In practice, most threatening-text cases are handled at the local or state level. Federal agencies tend to step in when threats are part of a larger pattern, involve organized crime or terrorism, or when local authorities lack the technical resources to investigate. Many larger police departments have cybercrime or digital forensics units, though those units are frequently overwhelmed by caseloads.5FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. Assessing Law Enforcements Cybercrime Capacity and Capability
Report the Number to Your Carrier and Block It
Your wireless carrier can help block the sender and may assist law enforcement. The standard way to report threatening or abusive texts is to copy the message and forward it to 7726, which spells SPAM on the keypad. That alerts the carrier to the number and helps them identify and block similar traffic.6Federal Trade Commission. How to Recognize and Report Spam Text Messages
Most carriers and phones also let you block individual numbers directly. Blocking is a good immediate step, but do it after you have preserved everything. If you block before screenshotting and saving, you may lose access to the thread on some devices.
When a Text Actually Counts as a Criminal Threat
Not every angry message is a crime. Courts draw a line between venting and communicating a genuine intent to harm. “I will hurt you when I see you tonight” carries very different legal weight than “this is so frustrating I could scream.” The difference turns on whether the message would make a reasonable person fear for their safety, the relationship between sender and recipient, any history of conflict, and how specific the threat is.
The Supreme Court sharpened the standard in 2023. In Counterman v. Colorado, the Court held that prosecutors must prove the sender was at least reckless about the threatening nature of their messages. A purely objective test is not enough. The government has to show that the sender “consciously disregarded a substantial risk” that the recipient would interpret the communication as a threat of violence.7Supreme Court of the United States. Counterman v. Colorado, No. 22-138 A single message that reads as threatening but was clearly a bad joke may not meet the bar. A pattern of messages, especially after being told to stop, almost certainly does.
Under federal law, transmitting a threat to injure someone through interstate communications is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine. If the threat also includes a demand for money or something of value, the penalty jumps to up to twenty years.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 875 – Interstate Communications When threatening texts are part of an ongoing pattern rather than a single message, federal cyberstalking law may also apply. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2261A, using electronic communications in a course of conduct that places someone in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury, or that causes substantial emotional distress, is a separate federal offense.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2261A – Stalking
Most states also have their own criminal threat, harassment, and stalking statutes. The charges available and their severity vary, so the same text could be prosecuted as a misdemeanor in one state and a felony in another. Common state charges include criminal threatening, harassment, intimidation, and making terroristic threats, with penalties ranging from fines and up to a year in jail at the misdemeanor level to multi-year prison sentences for felonies. Prosecutors can bring charges even if the sender never attempted to carry out the threat. The crime is in the communication itself.
Get a Protective Order
A protective order, sometimes called a restraining order depending on the state, is a court order that legally prohibits the sender from contacting you. Violating one is a criminal offense in every state, which gives you a concrete enforcement mechanism if the threats continue.
To get one, you file a petition at your local courthouse describing the threats and attaching your preserved evidence. The process generally works in two stages. First, a judge reviews your petition and may grant a temporary order that takes effect immediately, often lasting around 14 days. Then a full hearing is scheduled, where the other person can appear and respond, and the judge decides whether to issue a longer-term order that can last a year or more.
Filing fees vary widely by jurisdiction. Many states waive filing fees entirely for domestic violence or stalking cases. For non-domestic harassment, fees can range up to several hundred dollars. If you need the order served on the other person by a private process server, expect to pay roughly $40 to $200 on top of any filing fee.
Violating a protective order can result in arrest and charges ranging from contempt of court to a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the state and whether it is a first or repeat violation. Some states impose mandatory minimum jail time.9Office for Victims of Crime. Enforcement of Protective Orders, Legal Series Bulletin 4 If the person texts you again after an order is in place, that text itself is a new crime. Save it, screenshot it, and call the police.
One consequence worth knowing: if the sender is an intimate partner, a qualifying protective order can bar them from possessing firearms or ammunition under federal law, a prohibition the Supreme Court upheld in United States v. Rahimi in 2024.10Supreme Court of the United States. United States v. Rahimi, No. 22-915
Suing the Sender
Criminal charges punish the sender. Civil lawsuits compensate you. Even if police decline to prosecute, or the case ends in an acquittal, you can still sue the person who threatened you.
The most common civil claim is intentional infliction of emotional distress. To win, you generally need to show that the sender’s conduct was outrageous, that they acted purposely or recklessly, and that their behavior caused you severe emotional distress. Graphic, repeated, or personally targeted threats tend to meet this standard more easily than a single angry message.
Damages can include compensation for therapy or counseling, lost wages if the threats forced you to miss work or relocate, and expenses for safety measures like a security system or a new phone number. In egregious cases, courts may also award punitive damages. The availability and caps on punitive damages vary by state. Civil cases can also produce injunctions ordering the sender to stop contacting you, which function similarly to protective orders but are issued as part of a lawsuit. An attorney can help you decide whether the potential recovery justifies the cost of litigation, particularly since the sender needs assets or income you can actually collect against.
If the Threats Come From Work or School
If threatening texts come from a coworker, supervisor, or someone connected to your workplace, your employer has a legal obligation to act. Under the General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, employers must provide a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. An employer who becomes aware of threats or intimidation is on notice that the potential for workplace violence exists and is expected to take steps to address it.11Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Workplace Violence – Enforcement Report the texts to your supervisor or HR department in writing, and keep a copy.
Schools have their own responsibilities. Under Title IX, if threatening texts constitute sexual harassment and occur within the school’s education program or activity, the school must respond promptly once it has actual knowledge. That response includes offering supportive measures like counseling or no-contact orders between students, explaining how to file a formal complaint, and investigating if one is filed.12U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights. Online or Digital Sexual Harassment Under the 2020 Title IX Regulations Threats that fall outside Title IX may still violate a school’s code of conduct, so report them to administrators regardless.
In both settings, the same evidence rules apply. Screenshot everything before reporting, because once an investigation starts, the other person may try to delete their messages.