£200,000 fine for sole trader who sent nearly one million spam texts

We have fined Carmarthenshire sole trader Bharat Singh Chand £200,000 for sending almost one million spam texts about debt solutions and energy saving grants. 

Chand, until recently living in Burry Port, has also been issued with an enforcement notice ordering him to stop sending marketing messages without the appropriate consent. Chand has appealed our decision. 

Chand came to our attention through several previous 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. 

Our investigation also found Chand used evasion tactics, such as giving false company names in follow-up calls.  

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. The following is an example of one of the messages:  

 “Finding it hard to pay your Debts/Bills see if you can apply to write them off and freeze interest/ charges reply YES. 

Several recipients replied ‘YES’ to the messages in an attempt 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 us or the Telephone Preference Service.  

On 11 June 2024, we carried out a search warrant on 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 our investigation letter:  

“Ok pal, say you had an employee who was sourcing leads from an off shore centre without you knowing to get more commission but you sacked him when you found out”. 

We concluded that between 3 December 2023 and 3 July 2024, Chand knowingly and deliberately transmitted or instigated the transmission of 966,449 text messages without valid consent, breaking direct marketing rules. This resulted in 19,138 complaints via the 7726 spam reporting service. 

Andy Curry, Head of Investigations at the ICO, said:

“These text messages not only caused a nuisance to many thousands of recipients, but were clearly targeted at people who are at greater risk of harm; such as those facing financial hardship.

“Chand showed blatant disregard of the law and attempted to mislead the ICO during our investigation. We’ve taken action to protect the public from the stress and misery these messages can cause.

“I would urge anyone who receives spam texts to report them to the ICO, or forward them to 7726, so we can investigate and take robust action against offenders.” 

Spam messages and nuisance calls can be reported to via our website. 

What does the law say? 

The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 cover the sending of text message marketing. These rules say that organisations must only send marketing text messages to individuals if they have agreed to receive them, except where there is a clearly defined customer relationship. 

What can I do to avoid unwanted spam texts? 

What can I do if I’m getting unwanted marketing texts? 

If you receive marketing by text that you don’t want from an identifiable and legitimate UK-based organisation that you know and trust, you should first follow the opt-out instructions provided on the text – which typically involves texting ‘STOP’ to the telephone number or 5-digit short code shown in the text message. 

However, if you continue to receive marketing text messages from the organisation despite following the opt-out instructions, you may wish to report this to us. 

You should not respond to the marketing message if you are unsure who it comes from or if it doesn’t come from a company you are familiar with. This is because by responding this may confirm your number is live. You can report receipt of these text messages to us and forward them to the 7726 spam reporting service.  

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. You can also report any nuisance calls that you continue to receive to us using our online reporting tool.