Marketing firm fined £100k for making 75,649 nuisance calls

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has fined an East Sussex marketing company £100,000 for making 75,649 nuisance calls.
More than 100 complaints were madeMore than 100 complaints were made
More than 100 complaints were made

AMS Marketing Ltd, of Peacehaven, made the calls to people who had opted out of receiving marketing calls by registering with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).

This is against the law unless people give specific consent to receive marketing calls from a particular company. The ICO investigation found no evidence that AMS Marketing had done that.

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The calls were made between October 1 2016 and December 31 2017. A total of 103 complaints were made to the ICO and TPS.

People who complained said:

- “They knew my name and address and claimed that I was legally owed circa £1,800 for a non-fault traffic accident.”

- “Saying we had an accident and they can help with compensation. They asked for my daughter who has not been driving long, so I found it very stressful and disturbing.”

- “Trying yet again to persuade us to claim compensation despite being with TPS and asking them repeatedly not to ring us.”

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The ICO investigation found that AMS Marketing bought lists of data from other companies, but that no checks were made to find out if any of the people listed were registered with the TPS.

An ICO spokesperson said: “Firms that buy in lists of data are duty-bound to check whether people are registered with the TPS.

“Firms that fail to make the proper checks, do so at their peril. The ICO can and will take action.”