ICO closing in on people behind annoying spam text messages

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is closing in on the people behind those annoying mobile spam texts.

The privacy watchdog said today that "significant progress" had been made in identifying those responsible for the texts which offer unsolicited services such as debt advice or accident claims.

The ICO has been investigating the problem since the beginning of the year, including carrying out a property search and visiting various locations. It now plans to carry out more searches because many people find the messages "sinister" and believe those sending them are engaged in "fraud" and "data gathering by deception".

Director of Operations, Simon Entwisle, said: "Significant progress has been made in tracking down who is responsible for sending these nuisance messages.

"We've raided one office, visited various others and are still actively working with mobile phone networks to trace various locations."

The ICO has been working with the Ministry of Justice, Ofcom, the OFT, the Direct Marketing Association and mobile phone networks to track and trace those behind the texts.

The privacy watchdog has also had meetings with various lead generation and claims management companies, and has been asking these firms where they are getting the customer data from.

The ICO said all of the companies investigators have talked to insisted that that the information they receive has been - as far as they are aware - obtained lawfully.

"We've also been doing some important work to engage with insurance companies and are pleased that some of them are willing to undergo a data protection audit. We continue to work to encourage more of these companies to open their doors to us," he added.

Sending an unsolicited message - otherwise known as a spam text - breaches the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), which the ICO is responsible for regulating.

The ICO can serve a monetary penalty of up to £500,000 in the most serious cases.

"This is an ongoing challenge; we have a good idea about who is behind the messages and we continue to gather evidence to enable us to take enforcement action. So far these individuals have managed to cover their tracks but we'd encourage anyone with information to come forward," added Entwistle."

However the ICO warned that people should not respond to texts if they are not interested in the service being offered.

"We encourage people to ignore and delete the texts. By replying ‘STOP' or ‘CLAIM' people are alerting the sender to the fact that their number is active and this could lead to further calls or texts," the ICO told us.

How to report spam text messages
The UK's mobile operators provide a service that enables customers to report a spam text message. Simply forward the message to the appropriate number:

02: 7726
Orange: 7726
Three: 7726
T-Mobile: 7726
Vodafone: 87726