14 DAY TRIAL // Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined payday loans company First Financial for sending out millions of spam messages via SMS. The financial firm will have to pay £175,000 ($284,000 / €206,000).
In the UK, marketers must obtain consent from the people they’re sending marketing messages to. However, in this case, Financial First hadn’t obtained permission to send out the messages, which is why over 4,000 complaints have been filed against the company.
The SMS messages in question advertised a website called firstpaydayloanuk.co.uk, and they read something like, “Hi Mate hows u? I’m still out in town, just got £850 in my account from these guys.”
The texts were sent out using un-registered SIM cards to prevent anyone from tracking down the sender.
In a separate case involving First Financial, the company’s director was fined earlier this year after failing to notify the organization’s processing of personal information with the ICO. The Director, Hamed Shabani, claimed he had no affiliation with the company.
“People are fed up with this menace and they are not willing to be bombarded with nuisance calls and text messages at all times of the day trying to get them to sign up to high interest loans. The fact that this individual tried to distance himself from the unlawful activities of his company shows the kind of individuals we’re dealing with here,” said ICO Director of Operations, Simon Entwisle.
“We will continue to target these companies that continue to blight the daily lives of people across the UK. We are also currently speaking with the government to get the legal bar lowered, allowing us to take action at a much earlier stage.”
The Advertising Standards Authority also took regulatory action because the messages were designed to appear as if they were coming from a friend of the recipient.