Security News > 2023 > June > Brit data watchdog fines sleazy sales ops £250K for 'bombarding' folk with calls

Britain's data watchdog has slapped a financial penalty on two energy companies it claims were posing as third parties, including the National Grid and UK government, when making unsolicited marketing calls.

Both were deemed by the Information Commissioner's Office to have contravened the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations Act - Section 21 in the case of Crown Glazing, and Section 21 and 24 by MPS. The ICO found that between January and November 2021, Crown Glazing made more than 500,000 direct marketing calls to people on the TPS, and this generated 37 complaints.

"While the majority of calls were advertising double-glazing and a free energy test, some of the complaints also claimed that the firm misleadingly suggested they were representing the UK Government and working to improve energy savings," the ICO says on it website.

In the case of MPS, the ICO received 100 complaints that the business was making calls from overseas "While purporting to be from National Grid or the customer's current energy supplier," the regulator said.

Research by the ICO found Aims Tech, a call center in Pakistan, was making the sales calls into the UK on behalf of MPS. MPS told the ICO it used a number of sub-contractors.

"The firm claimed that it could help people save money on their energy bills by switching contracts, while asking for information about their current supplier and meter readings. The company denied responsibility for the complaints raised, claiming these international call centres were 'independent contractors' and 'third party intermediaries'."

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/06/09/ico_cold_call_fines/