The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined three companies offering financial services a total of £170,000 for illegal direct marketing.
The firms were found to have been in breach of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), directly breaking privacy and consent laws through unsolicited contact with the customer.
One business specialised in debt management Digivo Media, trading as Rid My Debt, sent more than 415,000 text messages without consent offering ‘free advice’ or a ‘free pack’ via its website. It was fined £55,000 as a result.
MCP Online was also fined £55,000 for making contact over pension services, placing a total of 20,939 unwanted direct marketing calls to people registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).
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Data processing and hosting provider Argentum Services was the third outfit to be fined – totalling £65,000 for both sending and allowing third parties to send more than 2.3million direct marketing text messages without valid consent.
The illegal messages promoted a vast array of services car finance compensation claims, boiler replacement schemes and housing repairs. None of the messages identified the sender, not did they offer the recipient the chance to opt out.
“We’re working to stop these unscrupulous companies who use predatory marketing communications to target people who are, or who may be, at the most risk of harm. These people could be your elderly parents, grandparents or even a neighbour who might have dementia and the last thing they need is a barrage of unwanted text messages or nuisance calls,” ICO head of investigations, Andy Curry said.
“High-pressured sales calls pushing financial products can cause real distress and harm to the people on the receiving end. That’s why we support the government’s recent consultation calling for a ban on cold calling for consumer financial services and products, and believe this could help reduce the amount of these predatory marketing calls.”
