A West Midlands firm which made thousands of marketing calls in the middle of the night to flog burglar alarm systems – many of which targeted elderly consumers – has been fined £70,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The company, Direct Security Marketing, made a total of 40,000 calls in a single day – with nearly 10,000 going out between 1am and 6am.
The automated calls, made from a withheld number, were received by residents early on August 24 2015 and sparked uproar at the time. The message stated: “The dark nights are coming and with the police cutting back, how secure is your home?”
The ICO began an investigation after receiving hundreds of complaints from people who had been called by the company.
One complainant said: “Receiving a call from a withheld number at 4.40 in the morning is an extremely unpleasant experience. I have elderly parents therefore the first thing I thought of was that something had happened to them. No-one wants to receive a phone call in the middle of the night as it’s usually bad news. Very upsetting and worrying.”
During the course of the ICO investigation, it identified that Direct Security Marketing was not even registered with the ICO and it was also prosecuted at Dudley Magistrates’ Court for this offence. The company pleaded guilty and was fined a nominal £650, ordered to pay costs of £492.78 and £65 victim surcharge.
The company’s director, Antonio Pardo, was also prosecuted over the offence. He pleaded guilty and was fined £534, ordered to pay £489.08 costs and £53 victim surcharge.
ICO group enforcement manager Andy Curry said: “Elderly people were among those who were left distressed after being woken up in the night by the automated calls.
“It’s natural when the phone rings in the early hours to fear it’s bad news and perhaps a relative is seriously ill, and that’s what people who received these calls told us they thought. Automated calls at any time can leave people feeling unsettled but to receive a call trying to sell you a burglar alarm in the middle of the night must have been very frightening.”
The move comes in the same week as a Manchester company, MyIML, was fined £80,000 by the ICO for cold calling people registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).
Curry added: “Legally, automated marketing calls can only be made if people have specifically consented to receive this type of call. This company admitted to us that it did not have consent from the individuals they called.”
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