Prominent UK call centre, Help Direct UK, was fined £200,000 for sending thousands of spam texts which led to 6,758 complaints being filed in the month of April alone.
Despite the ICO sending the Swansea-based call centre an enforcement notice, Help Direct UK continued to send unsolicited text messages about bank refunds, PPI claims and loans to random recipients.
A typical text message would read something along the lines of, “It’s been signed off, we have 3886.41 in your name for the accident you had, for us to put in your bank.”
A common practice used by companies the world over when trying to avoid the spam detectors used by mobile networks, Help Direct UK used unregistered sim cards to send the text messages, the Information Commissioner’s office said.
Seven months ago, the ICO issued an enforcement notice which ordered Help Direct UK to cease sending marketing text messages using unregistered sim cards. This followed a prior investigation earlier this year which showed that the call centre had sent 187,960 messages over the previous year.
The ICO told the media that breaching an enforcement notice was a criminal offence, that Help Direct UK had breached the enforcement order, and that it was considering taking further action against the company.
“Help Direct’s actions are unacceptable and we will act to stop companies behaving in this way. We have the power to prosecute anyone ignoring our enforcement notices and, as well as the fine, Help Direct can expect even more action from us,” said Anne Jones, the ICO assistant commissioner for Wales.
New rules came into effect in April this year which removed the ICO requirement to prove a company caused “substantial damage or substantial distress” to individuals. Help Direct UK is the first company to be fined under the new rules.