A Cardiff-based company which deliberately targeted elderly people to promote call-blocking devices, claiming they were trying to protect them from nuisance calls has been battered with a £190,000 fine.
Elderly Aids Ltd (EAL) made 758,053 unsolicited direct marketing calls to people registered with the Telephone Preference Service between May 2024 and February 2025, with 20 complaints made to the Information Commissioner’s Office and TPS during this period fuelling an investigation under the Privacy & Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
The complaints revealed that EAL’s callers were aggressive, misleading, and often failed to identify themselves. One complainant said: “overcharging for call blocking services that they aren’t authorised to sell – my father was persuaded to sign up to pay £139 upfront and a £6.99 monthly fee.”
Throughout the ICO’s investigation, EAL repeatedly ignored requests for information and continued making unsolicited calls which let to further complaints. The company also attempted to strike itself off the Companies House register once it became aware it was under scrutiny and is now registered at a default address.
ICO head of investigations Andy Curry said: “Not only did this company target vulnerable people who had explicitly asked not to be called – they harassed them to sell call-blocking devices. EAL showed a complete disregard for the law and the people they were hounding. This penalty should serve as a clear warning to any business that thinks the law does not apply to them – we will hold them to account for both exploiting people in this way and trying to avoid accountability.”
Alongside the monetary penalty, the ICO also issued an enforcement notice ordering EAL to stop making unlawful marketing calls and to comply with caller identification requirements.
DMA director of preference services Russell Roach added: “People register with the TPS because they want greater control over who can contact them. Cases like this demonstrate why those protections are so important.
“Anyone making live marketing calls must respect the choices people have made about their privacy. When organisations ignore those preferences and contact individuals who have explicitly opted out of receiving unsolicited sales calls, particularly those who are most vulnerable, they undermine consumer trust and risk causing significant nuisance and distress.
“We encourage businesses that want to be seen as responsible marketers to screen their calling lists against the TPS and CTPS registers before carrying out sales and marketing campaigns. Doing so helps ensure they respect consumers’ preferences, comply with the rules and avoid causing unnecessary harm or annoyance.”
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