When The Company Selling Unsolicited Call Blocking Devices Is The Problem

Elderly Aids Ltd Fined For Their Own Unsolicited Calls

The UK is taking the issue of unsolicited spam calls seriously, certainly more so that Elderly Aids Ltd who sell a service to block such calls.  The problem is that the UK already has a free service, ICO and the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) that will not only block known spam callers but also give the ICO the authority to track down those callers and fine them.

Elderly Aids Ltd made unsolicited calls trying to sell their services to numbers which had already signed up to TPS, which put them in breach of the law.  To make everything even worse, The Register describes one elderly victim was pressured to pay a £139 ($188) sign-up fee, and a recurring monthly £6.99 ($9.50) payment.  That is just one example of the company’s aggressive and misleading sales tactics, and thankfully several people reported these unsolicited calls to TPS and that led to the UK government levying a £190,000 ($258,000) fine against them.

Maybe one day we can have similar feel good stories in North America?