Nuisance calls firms fined £340k for over one million spam calls

Two companies – Outsource Strategies Ltd and Dr Telemarketing Ltd – made 1.43m calls to numbers registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).

The TPS is a free register which allows you to stop unwanted marketing calls. Organisations are legally required to not call TPS registered numbers under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003.

This is enforced by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which has the power to fine companies which break the rules.

Read on to find out how to stop and report nuisance calls.

Spam marketing calls

Between February 2021 and March 2022,  76 complaints were made to the ICO and the TPS about Outsource Strategies Ltd and Dr Telemarketing Ltd.

Recipients of the calls complained of high-pressure sales tactics being used. The ICO's investigation found that elderly and vulnerable people were specifically targeted.

Outsource Strategies Ltd made 1,346,503 unwanted marketing calls during this period. Complaints about this company said that the calls were aggressive and requests for the calls to stop were ignored.

Dr Telemarketing Ltd made 80,240 unwanted marketing calls during this period. The calls related to Lotto Express, a website that allows you to play international lotteries.

Some complaints mentioned repeatedly asking the caller to be taken off of the call list to no avail and others mentioned feeling annoyed and anxious by the calls.

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How to stop nuisance phone calls

It's important to report any unwanted calls to the relevant authority, so that action can be taken.

To stop nuisance calls you can:

Contact your phone company about the nuisance calls – most companies offer products, services and advice to block unwanted calls or reduce nuisance calls.

Be aware of third-party marketing – on websites watch out for tick boxes asking if you’re happy to have your details passed onto third parties.

Block specific numbers – on an iPhone, click the 'i' symbol next to the unwanted number, scroll down and tap ‘block this caller.’ On an Android, select the number and choose to block it.

Screen your phone calls – if you have caller display on your device and an answer phone, then you could try only answering calls from numbers you recognise.

source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/nuisance-calls-firms-fined-340k-for-over-one-million-spam-calls-azwgM0l3JN7e