A Birmingham-based monitored alarm provider has received a £100,000 ($132,000) fine from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The company, TMAC, used false identities during marketing sales calls.

TMAC made more than 260,000 nuisance calls to numbers on the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). People register with the TPS to opt out of unsolicited marketing calls.

The ICO said TMAC deliberately targeted people over 60 during “predatory” calls between February and September 2024. Callers allegedly used deceptive tactics to hide their identities.

The callers reportedly posed as representatives of different local crime and fire prevention initiatives. They allegedly used these identities to trick people into accepting sales calls.

According to the ICO, one TMAC director admitted that the company obtained the telephone numbers from data that a previous company had acquired.

The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) govern nuisance and marketing calls in the UK. Companies cannot make marketing calls to people on the TPS register unless those individuals have given explicit consent.

Organizations must check their call lists against the TPS register. Callers must also identify themselves, display their telephone numbers, and provide contact details for recipients who want to follow up.

“When people register with the TPS it is because they want to protect themselves from unwanted marketing calls. TMAC’s actions showed a brazen disregard for privacy laws – making thousands of intrusive calls each month and failing to identify themselves to the recipients,” said ICO head of investigations Andy Curry.

“We are grateful to those who reported these calls to us. Public reporting plays a crucial role in our work, and where we see organizations causing harm through unlawful and predatory direct marketing, we will not hesitate to act.”

Spam and Scams Target Victims

Nuisance calls remain a major problem in the UK despite the ICO’s enforcement efforts. The regulator issued almost £1 million ($1.32 million) in fines last year after at least four companies made millions of unsolicited marketing calls.

Technology allows companies and criminals to make these calls at a much larger scale. Fraudsters can also use automated systems to target large numbers of people quickly.

Green Spark Energy made nearly 10 million unsolicited calls using automated software. The company allegedly targeted elderly and vulnerable people with offers for loft insulation.

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission has also taken action against nuisance callers. Complaint numbers have fallen by more than half since 2021.

Data from Hiya showed that 25% of Britons and 31% of Americans encountered deepfakes during the final quarter of 2024. The figures highlight the growing challenge of deceptive calls and other forms of digital fraud.