# MSG-266 — A forwarded or referred message must say why the recipient received it

> A message sent because another consumer referred or forwarded it must identify the person who sent it and state why the recipient is receiving it.

- **Rule ID:** MSG-266
- **Layer:** Message content (`MESSAGE_CONTENT`)
- **Checks:** `viral message body`
- **Severity:** BLOCKING — Breaking this rule gets the submission rejected outright.
- **When it bites:** Gates approval — get this wrong and registration is refused
- **How it is detected:** AI judgement over the submitted form
- **Fix type:** Fix the field — a better value in the form clears it
- **Required by:** CTIA
- **Applies:** Applies to every 10DLC registration.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/message-content/msg-266/

## Why this rule exists

A referral message reaches somebody who never opted in to anything — the consent, such as it is, belongs to their friend — so the only thing standing between it and an unsolicited commercial text is the recipient being able to see immediately that a person they know is behind it. Without the name and the reason it is indistinguishable from spam and is reported as such, which damages the sending number for every other recipient. Businesses omit the name because their referral tooling does not have it, or because the message reads better without it, and neither is a reason the carrier recognises.

## How to fix it

Put the referring person's name and the reason into the first sentence of the referral template, before the offer — a [referrer name] token and a clause saying they sent it. Done when a recipient who has never heard of your business can tell, from the first line, who thought of them and why.

## Example of a compliant value

```text
Acme Coffee: [referrer first name] sent you a free bag of our Ethiopia Guji because they thought you would like it. Claim it at https://acmecoffee.com/r/4471 Reply STOP to opt out.
```

## Common mistakes

- Naming only the business does not satisfy this — the required identification is of the consumer who sent it, and that is the part referral tooling most often cannot supply.

## Notes

Universal rather than tagged: no fact on the registration declares a referral or refer-a-friend programme, so the criteria carry the condition and open with a PASS boundary for campaigns that have none. Note the interaction with the consent rules — a referral message reaches somebody who did not opt in, and satisfying this rule does not settle whether the programme may send it at all.