DialADeal Scotland Ltd (DDSL), a Glasgow-based company, was fined PS150,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office for making more than half a thousand nuisance marketing calls.
Unsolicited calls related to non-existent Green Deal energy savings schemes, including boiler and window replacement, loft insulation, and home improvement grants.
These were sent to telephone numbers that had been registered with Telephone Preference Service (TPS). If people have not consented to receive them, it is against the law.
These calls were made between August 2019 – March 2020 and generated more than 500 complaints at the ICO and TPS by TPS subscribers. This is one of the highest number received.
These complaints indicated that DDSL used several fake trading names. The ICO’s investigation also found that the company disguised the phone numbers they called from – another illegal act.
The ICO has fined the company PS150,000
Ken Macdonald is the head of ICO Regions. He stated: “Dial A Deal were violating the law on a variety of fronts. Not only were they calling people without their permission but they were also concealing their identities using false names or spoof numbers.
“Calls regarding Green Deal schemes can cause real problems as people believe they are legitimate. However, because of the complaints from the public, we were able to take corrective action.
“Companies that make similar nuisance calls to other companies should be aware that we can use our power where we see serious violations of the law.”
