Bounds Green firm fined £100k after making thousands of unwanted marketing calls

Dr Telemarketing Ltd made 80,240 unwanted marketing calls to people on a ‘do not call’ register between February 2021 and March 2022

A woman holding a phone — credit by Jae Park on Unsplash

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined a Bounds Green company £100,000 after it made more than 80,000 calls to people on the UK’s ‘do not call’ register.

The calls by Dr Telemarketing Ltd (DRT), all made between 11th February 2021 and 22nd March 2022, resulted in complaints to the ICO and the Telephone Preference Service. People who complained said the callers were aggressive and used high-pressure sales tactics to persuade them to sign up for products.

The ICO investigation also found evidence the company was specifically targeting elderly and vulnerable people.

Andy Curry, ICO head of investigations, said: “All the people targeted by these nuisance calls should not have been called in the first place. They had all taken action to protect themselves by registering with the UK’s ‘do not call’ register.

“It is unacceptable they were repeatedly interrupted and subjected to aggressive and unpleasant marketing, particularly as some of the victims told us they were people with vulnerabilities. I would like to thank those who took the time to report to us, as this helped our investigation to bring these two companies to account.

“All companies engaging in direct marketing should take note. If you flout the law, you can expect the ICO to use the full force of its regulatory powers against you.

“And, as in this case, it doesn’t matter how complicated the network of companies and individuals are, we will work through the evidence to find and take action against the perpetrators of these unlawful calls to protect the public.”

Dr Telemarketing Ltd, based in Gateway Mews, made 80,240 unwanted marketing calls to numbers registered with the TPS. The “highly exploitative” and “unwanted” calls were all made regarding ‘Lotto Express’ and were targeted at vulnerable people to maximise profit.

During the investigation, the ICO uncovered what appeared to be a network of five people and eight companies all involved in deliberately making the unwanted calls. DRT argued opt-in details were supplied by its business partner and screening was provided by another company. The ICO found there was no mechanism in place to identify and mitigate against making unwanted calls and that screening was not contracted to cover all the data providers involved.

Despite repeated attempts to communicate with the company, DRT stopped engaging with the ICO during the investigation and failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the Lotto Express calls. DRT has also been issued with an enforcement notice. DRT has not paid the fine or appealed the notice therefore the ICO says it is commencing financial recovery action.

Advice for the public

To help you, your friends and relatives stop receiving unlawful marketing calls, texts or emails you can:

Register landlines and mobile numbers with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) and the  Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS) free of charge. The TPS and CTPS is a register used by legitimate marketing companies to identify people and businesses that have said they don’t want to receive marketing calls. Alternatively, you can tell the company directly that you do not wish to be contacted.
Report the receipt of unsolicited marketing text messages received on your mobile to the Mobile UK’s Spam Reporting Service by forwarding the message to 7726.
Refer concerns that you or someone you know has been the victim of fraud to Action Fraud. You can refer wider concerns about a business’ practices to Trading Standards. Report any abandoned calls that you receive to Ofcom.
Ask your telephone network about call blocking solutions they may be able to offer. Many of these services are provided free of charge.
Report nuisance calls, texts or emails to the ICO via its website.

For more information about the ICO’s work to tackle nuisance calls, emails and texts:
Visit ico.org.uk/nuisancecalls.

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