Secret filming by C4 Dispatches reveals illegal nuisance call tactics

An undercover investigation by Channel 4 Dispatches reveals the nuisance call methods adopted by some telesales companies, including ‘sugging’ – a tactic used to sell under the guise of market research.
On seeing the undercover footage a leading expert described the practice of sugging as “a clear breach of the data protection act.”
The programme also reveals new research that shows the true extent of nuisance calls and its impact on the vulnerable.
The study by Trading Standards Scotland monitored over 500 vulnerable people over two and half years.
It found they received on average 60 nuisance calls a month and disturbingly the calls increased by almost 40% each year.
One elderly lady told Channel 4 Dispatches she received “anything up to 14, 15” nuisance calls per day, which made her tremble (see case study below).
Background to nuisance calls It is estimated nearly 8 billion unwanted calls were made last year in the UK, marketing everything from PPI and accident claims to solar panels.
However, in the past two years only 11 companies have been fined.
But how do the call centres get our numbers and why do they think we will buy in the first
To find out more Channel 4 Dispatches went undercover in a call centre, discovering who they ring and what can happen if you ask them not to call. 

Our undercover reporter got a job at Reactiv Media after it received a £75,000 penalty from the Information Commissioner's Office. Since the fine complaints about nuisance calls were still being made about Reactiv Media.
Amongst other services Reactiv Media promote PPI, funeral and banking products to the six and half million people they say they speak to every year.
‘Sugging’ – a breach of Data Protection laws Another  undercover reporter working at Reactiv Media also found sales being conducted under the guise of surveys, a practice known in the industry as ‘sugging’.
Andy Curry, from the Information Commissioner's Office says: “Sugging is a term that’s used for companies making survey calls as part of marketing campaigns. Some companies think that if they pretend they're making a survey call to you, they won’t be breaking the law. The fact is if they obtain your details and they then resell it or use it for a marketing campaign, that is caught by the regulations and they are breaking the law.”
The purpose of the telephone surveys were made clear to our undercover reporter in the job interview.
A trainer says: “There’s probably about 15 questions on each call. ….. lots of different questions in there that will then trigger a link where we could then promote them to or send them to one of our other departments. Our other departments would then sell them a product.”
In training, sales targets were also clearly set.
A trainer says: “Your target, obviously what we need you to be working towards is 20 surveys a day, four transfers and 50% of those transfers doing something i.e. quoting or selling.”
For three days at Reactiv Media our reporter made more than 500 calls but only around 40 people agreed to take part - in what they were told - was a survey.
Time after time people seemed keen to get off the line. This is no surprise given lifestyle surveys are one of the most complained about types of nuisance call.
The survey asked a series of questions about personal finances ranging from home, car, pet insurance to bank accounts, PPI, occupation and salary etc.
From the information gathered the computer system works out what products could be sold.
On seeing our footage John Mitchison, Head of Legal and Compliance at the Direct Marketing Association says: “What’s going on here is ‘sugging’ and sugging is selling under the guise of research. It’s a clear breach of the data protection act, they are disguising the intent of the call and people’s data is not being collected fairly. Breaching the data protection act is a criminal offence and this is a company that the ICO should definitely be looking into. “
Right to Replies Channel 4 Dispatches asked Reactiv Media about their telephone surveys they said:
“It was never the intention to mislead the customer in any way and we were very up front within seconds of the call opening”.
“This campaign was terminated at the beginning of August and something that Reactiv Media Ltd no longer do”.
Case Study – Vulnerable 91 year old For some vulnerable people cold calls can be more than just a nuisance.
Channel 4 Dispatches heard from one elderly lady who was inundated with cold calls.
91 year old Dorothy Smith from Derbyshire, is unable to walk and like many other elderly people living alone the phone is her link to outside world.
For nearly 3 years though Dorothy was afraid to use her phone.
Dorothy says: “Every time the phone rang you’d jump. It made my life hell. I was trembling from head to foot. I didn’t want to live here anymore.”
She received ‘anything up to 14, 15’ calls per day.
Dorothy also suffered from silent calls and feared they were people checking whether she was at home.
“I found that the worst one of the lot because you didn’t know who was going to be coming to your door, if they were going to break in. I got to the stage I hardly dare pick the phone up at all.”, she says.
How to Stop Your Nuisance Calls: Channel 4 Dispatches, airing on Monday 26th October at 8pm
Notes to Editors Press contact: Peter Heneghan, 078 50312455; pheneghan@channel4.co.uk