The telemarketing industry is facing a fresh backlash over cold-calling, after a rise in complaints on the back of thousands of marketing calls offering payment protection insurance (PPI) compensation.
According to a report on BBC Breakfast, the Information Commissioner’s Office has seen complaints soar by 50%, and it is urging consumers to report miscreants direct to the regulator.
Some consumers said they are getting up to 10 calls a day from claims companies, even though they are already registered on the Telephone Preference Service. As one viewer said: “It makes no difference; they just seem to ignore that.”
Although not illegal, an ICO spokesman explained that cold calling consumers who had opted out is in breach of the Communications Act 2003 and can carry a hefty fine.
But there are fears the PPI issue could seriously affect legitimate telemarketing business – which already suffers from negative perceptions.
One industry insider said: “God knows it’s hard enough already to promote brands on the phone. The PPI cowboys are threatening to make it even worse.”
The issue mirrors concerns over SMS spammers – which bombard consumers with ambulance-chasing texts – after the ICO’s war on text spam was branded ‘pathetic’.
It is believed that millions of messages are sent each day to UK mobile users to harvest their numbers, selling them on to claims marketing companies. Most messages include wording such as “Our records indicate that you may be entitled to compensation of £3750 for the accident you had”.
Anyone replying will be verifying their number, after which spammers resell them in bulk to claims marketing companies.
In September last year, the Government outlawed insurance companies from selling on the names of people who have had an accident – so called “claims farming” – although SMS spammers appear to be carrying on regardless.
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