Text spam plunges after ICO fine

The crackdown on text spammers which saw two company directors fined £440,000 appears to have put the kibosh on similar activity with new research showing a marked decline in scam PPI campaigns.
Using figures supplied by one unnamed UK mobile operator, security firm Cloudmark says unsolicited text volumes dropped markedly after November 2012, with the commonest form, PPI spam, falling from a peak of 47% of complaints to 35% by December.
By early 2012, the decline had consolidated, with PPI spam accounting for only 26% of unsolicited messages in March as overall volumes continued to fall.
Although it is difficult to prove – especially as the figures come from just one network – Cloudmark believes the decline is most likely connected to the huge fines handed down to the owners of Manchester-based Tetrus Telecoms by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
However, it could also be that PPI volumes have declined as the public issue of compensation has waned. Unwanted messages remain a major nuisance for UK consumers, with payday loans now the most often complained about type of message.
Cloudmark senior director of security research Chris Barton said: “Our data shows that PPI spam complaints make up a significantly lower proportion of the UK SMS spam reports than prior to the ICO action against the spammers in November.
“This evidence suggests that regulators have a significant part to play in tackling spammers. We look forward to working with the regulators to continue to combat these threats,” he added.