Context
The ICO has fined Bharat Singh Chand £200,000 for sending nearly one million spam texts about debt solutions and energy saving grants. He has also been issued with an enforcement notice ordering him to stop sending marketing messages without the appropriate consent. Chand has appealed the ICO decision.
Key points to note and next actions
- Bharat Chand came to the ICO’s attention through other investigations, most recently one into Daniel George Bentley, who was sending texts on behalf of Chand and providing advice about using a SIM farm – a technical device capable of holding multiple SIM cards to send hundreds of text messages in quick succession.
- The ICO’s investigation also found that evasion tactics, such as giving false company names in follow-up calls, were used.
Complainants said the messages did not contain a website address, or any information as to the identity of the sender but invited recipients to ‘reply YES’ to find out more. - Several recipients replied ‘YES’ to the messages to identify the sender and the source of their data. They subsequently received phone calls from a company calling themselves ‘The Debt Relief Team’, which they reported to the ICO or the Telephone Preference Service.
- On 11 June 2024, the ICO searched Bharat Chand’s then home address in Burry Port, where Chand denied any involvement in the marketing of green energy schemes, despite a call script being on open display. Evidence also included WhatsApp messages discussing excuses to provide to another related ICO investigation. In one conversation, Chand appears to encourage another person to lie in response to the ICO investigation letter.
- The ICO concluded that between 3 December 2023 and 3 July 2024, the transmission of 966,449 text messages were deliberately transmitted or instigated without valid consent, breaking direct marketing rules. This resulted in 19,138 complaints via the 7726 spam reporting service.