Nuisance calls: boilers, insulation and solar panels
2 Jun 2014 11:45 AM
The ICO is asking for
consumers’ help after a spike in nuisance calls selling boilers,
insulation and solar panels.
The automated calls appear to be
coming from 0161 or 0191 numbers, but initial investigations suggest the caller
is using a false number. The number may also show up as being international on
some phones.
Anyone receiving a call is asked
to report it to the
ICO.
Anyone who’s already
engaged with the company or received a visit from someone representing them
should call our Helpline, on 0303 123 1113.
Andy Curry, Enforcement Manager at the ICO, said:
“What we want to do is to
stop these nuisance calls, but to do that we need the public’s help. If
you’ve signed up to the TPS and you’re getting calls, or if
you’re getting recorded message calls when you haven’t asked for
them, then we need to know.”
“It looks as though these
green energy initiatives and dubious scrappage schemes are becoming ‘the
new PPI’, with more and more people receiving nuisance calls and texts
about them. They are responsible for a significant chunk of the concerns we
receive, and are a focus for our enforcement team.”
Text messages promoting green
energy initiatives and so-called ‘scrappage schemes’ were
responsible for 42% of concerns raised with the ICO between January and March.
That coincided with a significant reduction in the number of concerns about
messages relating to Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).
Earlier this month, the ICO warned two companies in Yorkshire and
Devonthey face fines totalling £140,000 for making nuisance calls.
The ICO also raided a SIM farm in
Wolverhampton which may have sent more than a million nuisance text
messages.
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Editors
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Act 1998, the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Environmental Information
Regulations 2004 and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations
2003.
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