🚨 Spam Alert! 🚨
A Carmarthenshire man, Bharat Singh Chand, has been slammed with a whopping £200,000 fine for bombarding unsuspecting folks with nearly a million spam texts! The campaign, devoid of proper consent, touted debt solutions and energy-saving grants, leaving many scratching their heads in confusion.
Chand, formerly of Burry Port, didn’t act alone. Investigations revealed links to Daniel George Bentley, who helped distribute these texts using high-tech gadgets capable of sending hundreds of messages in a flash. To make matters worse, these messages were a web of deceit, lacking clear identification and prompting recipients to ‘reply YES’ to learn more.
One frustrated recipient shared a message they received: “Finding it hard to pay your debts/bills? See if you can apply to write them off and freeze interest/charges. Reply YES.” Those who replied were soon bombarded with calls from a mysterious entity, ‘The Debt Relief Team.’
The plot thickened when a search of Chand’s residence turned up a call script right out in the open, despite his denials of involvement in marketing green energy schemes. Whartonly exchanged WhatsApp messages showed Chand coaching others to fabricate excuses to the ICO for another investigation. 🙄
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) discovered that between December 2023 and July 2024, a staggering 966,449 messages were sent without consent, leading to over 19,000 complaints! Andy Curry, head of investigations at the ICO, stressed that these messages exploited vulnerable individuals facing financial hardships. “We’ve taken action to protect the public from the stress and misery these messages can cause,” Curry stated.
Chand has appealed the decision, but this serves as a reminder to stay vigilant against spam. 🛡️ If you ever receive such texts, report them to the ICO or forward to 7726 to help clamp down on such nuisances!
Let’s stay spam-free! 💪 #SpamBusters #StaySafeOnline