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Companies fined in Britain for bombarding people with spam messages


The United Kingdom's Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has imposed fines on two financial and debt management companies for a total of £ 150,000 for sending over 7.5 million spam text messages to people.

The case first came to the ICO’s attention in May 2023. The British privacy and data regulator launched an investigation and found out that Quick Tax Claims Limited, a Manchester-based financial company focused on tax refunds, had sent 7,863,547 unlawful text messages in just one month. This resulted in 66,793 complaints by consumers, who stated there was no opt out option.

The ICO discovered that the company had bought personal information of UK citizens from third party suppliers that didn’t have valid consent to store and resell their information. The supervisor then decided to impose a fine of £ 120,000.

In addition, the ICO’s investigation showed that National Debt Advice Limited, a debt counseling advice service provider, had sent 129,902 spam text messages in a time period of four months, resulting in 4,033 complaints.

The company had also purchased personal information from third party suppliers. Furthermore, it neglected to conduct appropriate consent checks. That’s the reason the ICO fined the debt adviser £ 30,000.

“Both of these companies bombarded people with spam messages, often preying on those who might be experiencing difficult financial circumstances. To then be hounded by numerous unwarranted text messages, just adds further stress to people in those situations,” Andy Curry, the ICO’s Head of Investigation, says in a statement.

According to the enforcement notice, businesses that provide financial services should be very careful when relying on consent obtained indirectly. “You must make checks to ensure that the consent is valid and specifically identifies you. Generic consent covering any third party is not enough (…) Consent will not be valid if individuals are asked to agree to receive marketing from ‘similar organizations’, ‘partners’, ‘selected third parties’ or other similar generic descriptions,” the note states.

Both Quick Tax Claims Limited and National Debt Advice Limited have the right to appeal the ICO’s decision within 28 days. As of writing, it’s unclear whether the companies will accept the fine or appeal the penalty to the First-tier Tribunal.

Recently, the ICO fined two companies for making tens of thousands ‘predatory marketing calls’ to people who were registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) and opted out for unwanted calls from marketing companies.


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