We are warning the public to be on their guard against unlawful robo calls.  

It comes as we have fined two energy companies a total of £550,000 for making automated marketing calls.  

Both firms used an avatar software, which gave the call recipients the impression they were talking to ‘Jo, Helen or Ian’ from the UK - but were in fact scripted lines recorded by voice actors and played by call agents abroad.  

Andy Curry, Head of Investigations at the ICO, said the robo call technology is making it harder for the public to spot automated calls and report them to the ICO.   

We have fined Home Improvement Marketing Ltd (HIM), based in Pembrokeshire, £300,000 and issued it with an enforcement notice ordering it to stop its unlawful practices.  

We have also fined Green Spark Energy Ltd (GSE), based in Durham, £250,000 for making 9.5m automated marketing calls. GSE has also been issued with an enforcement notice.  

Both companies previously shared a common director (Mathew Terry) who is currently the director of HIM and, until March 2024, was a director of GSE.  

Mr Curry said:

“We urge the public to take note of our tips to spot these robo calls so they can tell us when they’ve received one. This will help us investigate and take enforcement action.”  

How to spot robo calls  

• Slight pauses before responses
  • There may be a noticeable delay between what you say and the responses you hear, as the agent selects the next pre-recorded clip.  
• Limited flexibility
  • If you ask unusual questions, the replies may sound repetitive, generic or irrelevant because the system can only play pre-recorded options.
  • The conversation always comes back to a fixed marketing script, regardless of your answers, because the ‘agent’ is limited to the script.
• Identical voice / tone across calls
  • You may receive multiple calls where ‘different agents’ sound the same or use the same accent or names.
• No background noise or natural breaks
  • Unlike real call centres, avatar calls often sound overly polished, with no background chatter or noise.  

Green Spark Energy  

The 497 complainants about the GSE calls to the ICO and TPS included cancer patients and elderly people:  

“Said local energy advisor – selling insulation. I do not understand why they can try to scam me if I am registered with the TPS. I am 91 and battling cancer, my wife has advanced Alzheimer’s.”  

“Loft insulation, scare tactics by saying that it contained asbestos and was therefore dangerous. It is unethical to try and scare a vulnerable elderly person by raising the prospectus of asbestos in loft installation, particularly when that is nonsense and it’s fibreglass.”  

The callers introduced themselves as Jo, Helen and Ian and identified themselves only as a ‘local energy advisor’ offering loft insulation. The calls gave the recipient the impression they were talking to a person from the UK but were in fact recorded calls activated by call agents abroad using avatar software.  

The aim of the call was to arrange an appointment with a surveyor to attend the property in order to conduct a survey. A recording of one of the calls made misleading statements, suggesting fibreglass insultation was causing damage or mould and was classed by the British Lung Foundation as a potential health hazard. Asthma + Lung UK (formerly the British Lung Foundation) published a blog stating this was not the case.  

 

Home Improvement Marketing Ltd  

From 31 May 2023 to 31 August 2023, it was found that HIM used an overseas call centre which also used the avatar software and made 2.4 million automated calls on behalf of the company, resulting in 274 complaints to the ICO and the TPS.  

The callers identified themselves as calling from ‘Energy Hub’ and ‘Energy Saving Team’, offering solar panels. 

ICO investigation  

The firms were investigated as part of a wider operation set up by us to assess and analyse complaint trends in relation to the energy and home improvements sector.  

We conducted a search warrant in March 2024 at Mathew Terry’s home address. Among the items seized was an iPhone which was forensically analysed and included a document which set the objective of telesales agents to “book appointments through cold calling homeowners for GSE’s sales reps to attend their homes to carry out a free loft inspection and ultimately sell the Huntsman Spray Foam product”.  

Also on his mobile phone were WhatsApp messages discussing how to avoid getting caught by us.  

According to Mathew Terry, due diligence checks were not conducted into data providers, and he was unable to evidence consent, stating, “no consent was obtained.”   

The rules on automated marketing calls  

The rules for making automated calls are stricter than for making live calls.  

Automated marketing calls can only be made to people who have previously informed the caller they consent to such communications being sent by or at the instigation of the caller. Consent must be freely given, specific and informed.   

The caller should identify to the recipient which organisation they are from.  

Organisations making marketing calls should follow our Direct Marketing Guidance to ensure they are complying with the law.  

Taking steps to protect loved ones  

To stop live and automated marketing calls you can:  

• register your landline or mobile number with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) free of charge. The TPS is a register of people who have said they don’t want to receive marketing calls;  
• report any nuisance calls that you continue to receive to us using our online reporting tool; and  
• refer complaints about fraud and scams to Action Fraud or Police Scotland, complaints about a business’s practices to Trading Standards through Citizens Advice and complaints about silent or abandoned calls to Ofcom.  

There’s more advice about how to prevent nuisance calls on our website.