01618149905

Silence then,....... "Goodbye"

I also got silence for about 6 seconds then "Goodbye" and a beep, presumably to record a voice message. Not sure why.

Please stop this number from calling me.

Says nth and drops call

Silence then,....... "Goodbye"

News release: 28 November 2012 www.ico.gov.uk

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has today served monetary penalties totalling £440,000 on two owners of a marketing company which has plagued the public with millions of unlawful spam texts over the past three years.

This is the first time that the ICO has used its power to issue a monetary penalty for a serious breach of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) since these powers were approved in January 2012.

The ICO is also currently considering issuing penalties to three other companies believed to be acting in breach of the regulations as the office continues its crackdown on the illegal marketing industry.

Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, said:

“The public have told us that they are distressed and annoyed by the constant bombardment of illegal texts and calls and we are currently cracking down on the companies responsible, using the full force of the law.

“In March we set up a survey www.snapsurveys.com/swh/surveylogin.asp?k=134674895144 on the ICO website so people can tell us about any unwanted texts and calls they have been receiving. So far we have received over 60,000 responses. We know the majority of these messages and calls have been made by companies who try to remain anonymous in the hope they can profit by selling personal information to claims management companies and other marketing organisations. We are using the information provided by the public to identify those responsible.”

Tetrus Telecoms
Today’s news comes after an 18-month investigation into the activities of Tetrus Telecoms. The company is jointly owned by Christopher Niebel and Gary McNeish. The ICO became aware of Tetrus Telecoms after receiving intelligence in May 2011 that the company was sending huge volumes of unsolicited text messages from offices in Stockport and Birmingham, without the consent of the recipient and without identifying the sender – both of which are legal requirements under the PECR. Any replies were then used to generate leads that were sold to other companies at a considerable profit .


The ICO’s investigation included raids at the company’s Stockport premises, in August 2011, and the Manchester home of Niebel, in February this year. The evidence obtained showed Tetrus was using unregistered pay as you go sim cards to send out as many as 840,000 illegal text messages a day with an income of £7,000 - £8,000 a day.

Examples of the text messages sent out by Tetrus Telecoms include:

CLAIM TODAY you may be entitled to £3500 for the accident you had. To claim free, reply CLAIM to this message. To opt out text STOP. Thank you

URGENT! If you took out a Bank Loan prior to 2007 then you are almost certainly entitled to £2300 in compensation. To claim reply 'YES'

You have still not claimed the compensation you are due for the accident you had. To claim then pls reply CLAIM. To opt out text STOP

The company was set up in December 2009, and is believed to have been operational since this time. The two men made hundreds of thousands of pounds profit during the course of three years.

Niebel has now been ordered to pay a penalty of £300,000, while McNeish, who appears to have taken less out of the business, has been fined £140,000.

The ICO has connected the company to over 400 complaints to its office about spam texts linked to Tetrus.

The Information Commissioner continued:

“The two individuals we have served penalties on today made a substantial profit from the sale of personal information. They knew they were breaking the law and the trail of evidence uncovered by my office highlights the scale of their operations.

“We will continue to work with the relevant authorities as well as the network providers to ensure companies like this are punished. We’re also working with the Ministry of Justice to target claims management companies who purchase this information breaching the industry regulations, the Data Protection Act, as well as electronic marketing regulations.

“Our message to the public is that if you don’t know who sent you a text message then do not respond, otherwise your details may be used to generate profits for these unscrupulous individuals. Together we can put an end to this unlawful industry that continues to plague our daily lives.”

Further information about the ICO’s investigation into Tetrus Telecoms can be found in the monetary penalty notices available on the ICO's monetary penalty notices page.

Further action
Niebel and McNeish are also facing prosecution from the ICO for failing to notify that Tetrus Telecoms was processing personal information. Notification is a legal requirement for organisations under the Data Protection Act punishable by a penalty up to £5,000 in the Magistrates Court, and a potentially unlimited fine in the Crown Court.

It is important that any company that has bought data from Tetrus or Niebel or McNeish in the past, now carefully checks that the proper customer consents have been obtained and that they are acting within the law. We are working with the Ministry of Justice to consider whether further enforcement action should be taken against any of these associated companies, including the cancellation of their authorisation to operate.  

The ICO has set up a survey www.snapsurveys.com/swh/surveylogin.asp?k=134674895144 which people can use to send us the details of any unwanted marketing texts and calls.

The information provided is being used to help identify those companies responsible.

We are currently considering issuing penalties to three other companies for breaching the PECR. We are not identifying these companies now, as this could jeopardise our investigations and evidence gathering, however you can find out more about what action we are taking here http://www.ico.gov.uk/enforcement/action.aspx

These people called me today having been trying for a few days I notice from my missed calls. had a chat with this bloke regarding DEFINITE unclaimed PPI, then he said it was POSSIBLE unclaimed PPI.  I asked his name and then could I speak to his supervisor upon which he hung up on me.  I found their tel. no. and called back and the lady apologised and said that should NEVER happen and that the supervisor, SIMON, would call me back this afternoon.  I said "I doubt that anybody will bother to call back, and that I will put a comment no this string if he doesn't" which I am now doing..........................

background noise then hangs up

PPI  called to complain - loud tone

Call me today , silence then........"goodbye."

called today at 18.50pm i didnt even bother to answer

Nothing for a few seconds then "goodbye".

I obtained their number on1471 and dialled it back. Their system refuses to accept incoming calls, just triplets of beeps.

rings then when  answer hangs up without speaking - probably automated but still very annoying!

I never asked to be called by this number, I do not know this number and am met with a rather rude person on the other end of the line.

Called me asked if i was (my name) with poor pronuncation. I said is this re PPI?

They hung up.

How rude, wanted to call back to take of marketing list, cannot!

silence then hang up

Caller said not a retail call and that they were regulated by Ministry ofJustice.Name has been given by a credit agency as .....line then went dead.Tried to ring back no ring tone.

Had a call a couple of calls today from this number! silence then hangs up!

Does anyone know how I can block this number with an Iphone??

This number just rang me.  The guy spouted something about my house insurance being up for renewal.  I said that it wasn't, I had just renewed it.  Cheeky git then asked me who with, so I told him it was none of his business and to take me off his database, to which he replied 'there's no need to be impolite'.  I hung up.  I am so sick and tired of getting these calls, they are really annoying!

I've been called three times. First time I answered and it sounded like a call centre in the background but nobody was on the line. I've ignored the other two calls.