:00:04. > :00:10.Annoyed by nuisance sales calls and texts? Join the club.
:00:10. > :00:17.What did the companies, do what gives the right to call me out of
:00:17. > :00:22.the blue? So are millions of others. Things that are unwanted, unneeded,
:00:22. > :00:30.unrequested. It is anen vaigs. go over cover to investigate the
:00:30. > :00:34.secrets of the call centre industry. He is treating the customers with
:00:34. > :00:40.contempt. The only thing he is interested in is spinning a yarn.
:00:40. > :00:45.We reveal the darker side. I am not begging you to do this. I
:00:45. > :00:51.will net gone on my knees and say please. I can move on to another
:00:51. > :01:01.client and make money. They never left a stone unturned. Wherever I
:01:01. > :01:08.
:01:08. > :01:13.had money, they were able to grab We get an incredible 3 billion
:01:13. > :01:18.marketing call as year. It is a nightmare. It is an
:01:18. > :01:23.invasion of your privacy. I have had as many as five a day.
:01:23. > :01:28.It is a type of harassment, isn't it? Welcome to Panorama's call
:01:28. > :01:30.centre with a twist. Instead of making cold calls, we are talking
:01:30. > :01:35.to people who have been plagued by them.
:01:35. > :01:38.Helping you with a claim after an accident... The other one is the
:01:38. > :01:42.solar panels. I get loads of calls for that.
:01:42. > :01:45.It is all about selling you something over the phone. From
:01:45. > :01:50.windows to wine, to property, to pay day loans, you name it, they
:01:50. > :01:55.will try to sell it. The problem is that many of us find this type of
:01:55. > :02:01.call to be unwanted and intrusive. It seems that no matter how many
:02:01. > :02:07.times you say you don't want to be called, many of us are given no
:02:07. > :02:13.choice. Meet Tony Clark. He's ex- directory, he signed up to
:02:14. > :02:18.to a scheme that should block most cold calls. Inspite of that Tony
:02:18. > :02:27.says he gets up to five a day. I can be having a good day, the
:02:27. > :02:32.phone will go. It is one of these callers. You think, "Why? I really
:02:32. > :02:35.don't need it." I don't want it, thank you, goodbye. Then another
:02:35. > :02:41.one comes an another one. Where you started off having a really good
:02:41. > :02:45.day, it will turn it around and it ruins the day for you.
:02:45. > :02:49.One particular firm won't seem to leave Tony alone. They deal in
:02:49. > :02:52.compensation claims for industrial deafness.
:02:52. > :02:57.They're convinced that Tony should sue his employer. What they don't
:02:57. > :03:02.know is that he has worked for himself for 35 years.
:03:02. > :03:06.They say that they have my information from the Industrial
:03:06. > :03:10.Workers' Register. Now, I've been online and looked
:03:10. > :03:16.for it, there ain't no such thing, apparently. Because they told me it
:03:16. > :03:20.was available to be seen in any public library, fortunately, I have
:03:20. > :03:26.a friend who is a librarian, I had a chat with her, no, it doesn't
:03:27. > :03:32.exist. It is not there. So, who is behind it? We have
:03:32. > :03:36.discovered that the calls are made by a company based in Bury, outside
:03:36. > :03:40.of mar, called Central Claims Group. On their website they say that they
:03:40. > :03:45.specialise in accident and compensation claims. They point out
:03:45. > :03:52.that they employ a motivated and friendly staff to help you.
:03:52. > :03:58.I would like to know how they know about me? How they got my details?
:03:58. > :04:07.We went under cover to find out. The first question, where do
:04:07. > :04:17.Central Claims Group staff say that they are calling from? The
:04:17. > :04:18.
:04:18. > :04:22.Industrial Hearing Clinic? The Industrial Hearing Centre? We heard
:04:22. > :04:32.others saying that they were calling from the Industrial
:04:32. > :04:37.
:04:37. > :04:41.Workers' Office. So why not give If we don't know who is cold
:04:41. > :04:45.calling us we can't complain about them. It is simple, but it is
:04:45. > :04:49.against industry rules. Those rules also say that the
:04:49. > :04:53.companies should cross-check databases to ensure that people who
:04:53. > :04:57.have asked not to be called are left in peace.
:04:57. > :05:01.But take a look at what passed for a database in Central Claims Group
:05:01. > :05:05.when we were there, that's right, it is the phone book. They are just
:05:05. > :05:14.ripping pages out and calling numbers at random. Today, they have
:05:14. > :05:24.reached the letter E. So much for a database.
:05:24. > :05:38.
:05:38. > :05:48.The person on the other end of the So what happens when someone asks
:05:48. > :05:52.
:05:52. > :05:59.They are not just tearing up the phone book, they're tearing up the
:05:59. > :06:05.rule book. It doesn't exactly seem like best practise.
:06:05. > :06:10.We showed our footage to Mark Weston, a lawyer that specialises
:06:10. > :06:14.in data handling and commercial law. The overall impression you get from
:06:14. > :06:19.the company is that there are no measures in place to protect the
:06:19. > :06:24.people that they are calling? seems to be a blatant disregard for
:06:24. > :06:30.the law. You have to give the name of where are calling from. He is
:06:30. > :06:35.not doing that. He is telling a lie, inducing people to stay online.
:06:35. > :06:42.They are looking to make money by telling the lie, it is a fraud. It
:06:42. > :06:47.institutes the fraud act of 2006. So, CCG are driving coach and
:06:48. > :06:57.horses over a coach load of laws? It is driving a submarine thorough
:06:58. > :06:58.
:06:58. > :07:03.it. CCG have said that they are taking this into their hands. They
:07:03. > :07:07.have said that they have commenced disciplinary proceedings,
:07:07. > :07:13.strengthened management controls and informed all employees that
:07:13. > :07:18.using the ordinary telephone directory or introducing themselves
:07:18. > :07:22.as anything other than than Central Claims Group, with ill, if proved,
:07:22. > :07:27.be regarded as grows misconduct. So, Central Claims Group are sorry, but
:07:27. > :07:32.we wanted to see what happens if you go along with the process after
:07:32. > :07:36.the initial cold call. Well, they will invite you to attend a hearing
:07:36. > :07:43.clinic. We sent someone along to one they had arranged in a hotel in
:07:43. > :07:47.Bolton. After a hearing test, he was
:07:47. > :07:54.introdoused to one of several lawyers present, working for Leo
:07:54. > :08:02.Abse and Cohen. Central Claims Group are paid for
:08:02. > :08:05.finding them potential clients. But cold calling is against
:08:05. > :08:10.solicitors' professional guidelines. The Solicitors' Regulation
:08:10. > :08:20.Authority told us that its members should not obtain business through
:08:20. > :08:25.cold calls or use third parties to do so on their behalf.
:08:25. > :08:29.The lawyer carefully explained how their no h win, no-fee arrangement
:08:29. > :08:39.worked, but he was less certain about what Central Claims Group
:08:39. > :08:51.
:08:51. > :08:55.So, this person from the solicitor's firm says that he's a
:08:55. > :09:00.bit suspicious of what the call centre tells people to get them
:09:00. > :09:03.here to the clinic. Is it acceptable? It should be ringing
:09:04. > :09:08.alarm bells. Solicitors are bound by rules, one of the things that
:09:08. > :09:12.the solicitors have to do is to have referral arrangements with
:09:12. > :09:16.reputable companies and to mon they are how the arrangements are put in
:09:16. > :09:20.place and carried out. At the hearing clinic, the six
:09:20. > :09:30.people we spoke to all said that they had been cold called. It
:09:30. > :09:39.
:09:39. > :09:44.Now here he seems to know that the claims group have made the phone
:09:44. > :09:47.calls, unsolicited and the Solicitors' Regulation Authority
:09:47. > :09:50.who police the lawyers would look at that carefully m
:09:50. > :09:55.But solicitors Leo Abse and Cohen say they have not taken on any
:09:55. > :10:02.clients who to their knowledge have been identified by means of cold
:10:02. > :10:07.calling. CCG have assured us that they find clients by legitimate
:10:07. > :10:12.methods approved by the Ministry of Justice. We have taken steps to
:10:12. > :10:17.satisfy ourselves that this is what CCG has been doing.
:10:17. > :10:20.As for the tick-box form that our reporter was asked to sign, Leo
:10:20. > :10:24.Abse and Cohen say it is a compliance questionnaire. The
:10:24. > :10:29.reason that an unshriflted phone call option is included is to
:10:29. > :10:33.satisfy them that the method was not used.
:10:33. > :10:37.-- unsolicited. But there is a way to stop cold
:10:37. > :10:42.calls in theory. It is called the Telephone Preference Services.
:10:43. > :10:48.Or TPS. If we are on their list, UK-based companies should never
:10:48. > :10:53.make unwanted cold calls to us. It sounds like the ideal solution.
:10:53. > :10:58.Huge numbers of us have put our trust in it. A staggering 17.5
:10:58. > :11:05.million phone numbers are registered with TPS.
:11:05. > :11:09.So, that's 17.5 million numbers in the UK which, in theory, should
:11:09. > :11:13.never receive an unsolicited call from a UK call centre, but
:11:13. > :11:19.according to the online forums we have been looking at, and the
:11:19. > :11:23.people who have contacted us, some companies are sim pli ignoring that.
:11:23. > :11:28.I have registered now. I expect not to be cold called.
:11:28. > :11:32.On the Panorama complaints line, people are not happy with TPS.
:11:32. > :11:37.I don't know if it is the system that does not work or the companies
:11:37. > :11:42.are ignoring it. If they do check on the database, they ignore it and
:11:42. > :11:46.carry on ringing. So, what is going wrong with the
:11:46. > :11:50.Telephone Preference Services? According to the Direct Marketing
:11:50. > :11:56.Association, who run it on behalf of the industry regulator, some
:11:56. > :11:59.firms put the rules on hold. By and large in the UK, those
:11:59. > :12:03.people that get cold called are because companies are not abiding
:12:03. > :12:05.by the legislation. We should be seeing enforcement against the
:12:06. > :12:09.companies, those who are persistently breaching the
:12:09. > :12:15.regulation. You are running the service, so are
:12:15. > :12:18.you enforcing it? No, we have no powers of enforcement. The
:12:18. > :12:21.enforcement sits with the Information Commissioner. You pass
:12:22. > :12:27.on the complaints to the Information Commissioner, how many
:12:27. > :12:32.complaints do you send on? Perhaps 1,000 to 2,000 a month in any given
:12:32. > :12:37.month. How many are acted on? have not been prosecutions in 18
:12:37. > :12:42.months. So you are sending sometimes 2,000
:12:42. > :12:45.complaints a month to them and there have been no prosecutions in
:12:45. > :12:49.18 months? They may be writing to companies asking them to explain
:12:49. > :12:53.what they are doing, but there have been no prosecutions.
:12:53. > :12:58.The Information Commissioner says that is because until this year
:12:58. > :13:01.they have not had suitable legal powers to prosecute. Even with
:13:01. > :13:06.tougher powers and fines up to half a million pounds, they say that
:13:06. > :13:10.those who break the rules, getting them to be fineded is not easy.
:13:10. > :13:15.If I were running a company watching this, I certainly would
:13:15. > :13:20.not feel worried that anyone is going to come after me for calling
:13:20. > :13:23.people who don't want to be called, even if I am breaking the
:13:23. > :13:26.regulations? I think that in the past, certainly, the companies who
:13:26. > :13:31.are making the calls have taken that judgment.
:13:31. > :13:34.Now at the moment we definitely are trying to take action against the
:13:35. > :13:40.individuals, we have only had the power to issue a fine since the end
:13:40. > :13:45.of January, so it is early days yet. I have to say, there is a lot of
:13:45. > :13:49.money to be made in this sphere. So the system as it stands, means
:13:50. > :13:55.that it is worth continuing to bombard people with unwanted calls?
:13:56. > :13:58.It is clear that some organisations have taken that judgment.
:13:58. > :14:03.The problem with the Telephone Preference Services is that there
:14:03. > :14:07.is a catch. It is all to do with how you share your information on
:14:07. > :14:11.websites. If you look at this, this is a financial advice website
:14:11. > :14:17.asking for all of your details. At the bottom there is a line asking
:14:17. > :14:20.for your consent to be contacted by e-mail, phone or by text. If you
:14:20. > :14:24.give that consent, the Telephone Preference Services becomes
:14:24. > :14:27.irrelevant. This company and companies associated with it can
:14:28. > :14:31.contact you even if you are on Telephone Preference Services. The
:14:31. > :14:35.details are out there. You could be cold called.
:14:35. > :14:38.If at some time in the past you have given consent to being contact,
:14:38. > :14:42.even if you have signed up to the Telephone Preference Services now,
:14:42. > :14:45.it will not make a jot of difference. Not to those companies
:14:45. > :14:50.that are buying and selling the information that you gave the
:14:50. > :15:00.website maybe years ago. That is the loophole. That is what must be
:15:00. > :15:01.
:15:01. > :15:04.I am not sure whether you could describe the consent as being a
:15:04. > :15:08.loophole. If someone consents to a call being made to them they've
:15:08. > :15:11.consented to it. Back at the Panorama Call Centre there is
:15:11. > :15:15.message coming through loud and clear on the complaints line. It's
:15:15. > :15:21.that foreign call centres calling from outside the UK are often the
:15:21. > :15:24.worst offenders when it comes to unwanted cold calls. It's an Indian
:15:24. > :15:29.company by the sound of it coming from abroad. The people usually
:15:29. > :15:32.have good English but robotic type of English. Many of the companies
:15:32. > :15:39.breaking the rules are selling legitimate products. But there is
:15:39. > :15:42.another, darker side to the cold calling industry. One that trades
:15:42. > :15:47.in out and out scams with the sole purpose of parting unsuspecting
:15:47. > :15:57.people from their cash. Meet Sharron. She filmed herself on
:15:57. > :16:00.The call centre operator has told her that he works for a company
:16:00. > :16:07.approved by Microsoft. He claims to have spotted a problem on her
:16:07. > :16:14.computer which he can fix, for a fee. This is a scam. Luckily for
:16:14. > :16:22.Sharron, she knows it and is just stringing the scammer along for the
:16:22. > :16:26.cameras. I can't right click on your computer. He wants to sell her
:16:26. > :16:29.bogus anti-virus software. According to Microsoft, this scam
:16:30. > :16:32.is incredibly common. Microsoft say you would never be contacted in
:16:33. > :16:37.this way by one of their official partners.
:16:37. > :16:42.What I am upset at and what I worry about most is where have they got
:16:42. > :16:46.my phone number from? Somebody is distributing my phone number to
:16:46. > :16:50.these companies and without my permission. Since posting this
:16:50. > :16:55.video on YouTube, Sharon's had dozens of people contacting her
:16:55. > :17:00.saying they've also been targeted. This is very confusing. Your
:17:00. > :17:05.computer, my computer. Whose computer is it? Pamela Warner
:17:05. > :17:09.received a similar call. Unfortunately for her, she took the
:17:09. > :17:14.scammer at his word. He just kept on and on intimating that he knew
:17:14. > :17:19.there was something wrong with my computer. And he got quite bullying
:17:19. > :17:24.actually and sort of saying that he was trying to help me all the time.
:17:24. > :17:29.Pamela paid �120 for the cold caller to fix her computer. He gave
:17:29. > :17:33.me a web address to type in which I did. A page came up and then there
:17:34. > :17:37.were boxes and I had to put a number into these boxes. At which
:17:38. > :17:43.point, they took over my computer. After realising it was a scam,
:17:43. > :17:47.Pamela had to fork out more money to have her computer checked by a
:17:47. > :17:52.proper expert. Even so, she's now afraid to use it. It's left me
:17:52. > :17:59.feeling so vulnerable and quite, quite frightened of what might well
:17:59. > :18:03.still be on it. Back at our call centre, we're also
:18:03. > :18:08.hearing plenty of complaints about annoying text messages. I find the
:18:08. > :18:10.spam text messages dreadly irritating. I get five or six text
:18:10. > :18:15.messages every day. It's just a nuisance.
:18:15. > :18:19.In Britain we receive a staggering eight million unsolicited texts a
:18:19. > :18:25.day, offering everything from double glazing to compensation
:18:25. > :18:31.claims and PPI refunds. How do these companies get hold of your
:18:31. > :18:35.number? Sometimes we are part of the problem. One way they can get
:18:35. > :18:39.your mobile tphopl is if you leave it as a contact detail on a website.
:18:39. > :18:43.It doesn't even take very long for that whole process to happen. I am
:18:43. > :18:47.on a site here which is about getting loans and there is an
:18:47. > :18:51.inquiry form which I am filling out and space to put in a mobile number.
:18:51. > :18:57.So I am going to do that. It's the number of this phone here and I've
:18:57. > :19:06.been told that if I leave a mobile number here I will be texted by a
:19:06. > :19:10.certain company very quickly. Minutes after inputting my mobile
:19:10. > :19:16.number into that website, I received this text from someone
:19:16. > :19:20.called Emma saying that she she has good news regarding my loan. She
:19:20. > :19:25.says she is from a company called Cash Finance Direct and when you
:19:25. > :19:29.look them up they are linked to a company called Horizon Finance and
:19:29. > :19:34.they say they'll discuss the loan with me but at some point in the
:19:35. > :19:39.process I will be paying �1.53 per minute on a premium rate service to
:19:40. > :19:43.talk about it. In 2010 Horizon was fined �50,000 for significant
:19:43. > :19:47.breaches of how they should run their premium rate lines.
:19:47. > :19:52.Today, they say they offer a professional, accurate and
:19:52. > :19:57.efficient service in helping you get a loan. So, have things
:19:57. > :20:02.changed? We went undercover to find out.
:20:02. > :20:06.When you first call Horizon about getting a loan it's a free phone
:20:06. > :20:11.line. Staff then try to get to you call back on a premium rate number.
:20:11. > :20:14.Our reporter's shown how it's done. In every call we observed would-be
:20:14. > :20:24.borrowers were put on hold in the middle of a conversation. A team
:20:24. > :20:37.
:20:37. > :20:40.leader told us it was done to make The company says it's to ensure
:20:40. > :20:43.that while the details are checked by the computer, customers don't
:20:43. > :20:53.overhear potentially private information relating to other
:20:53. > :20:56.
:20:56. > :21:06.With a free phone customer on hold a worker shows us how he gets them
:21:06. > :21:10.
:21:10. > :21:14.to call back on the premium rate Actually, the news isn't that
:21:14. > :21:24.fantastic. You haven't got a loan at this point, you're just eligible
:21:24. > :21:26.
:21:26. > :21:29.to apply for one if you ring back Horizon Finance told us this
:21:29. > :21:33.employee was showing off. Another way staff convince the
:21:33. > :21:38.customer that the application is being processed professionally is
:21:38. > :21:48.to give them a reference number. But the reference numbers we saw
:21:48. > :22:03.
:22:03. > :22:06.given out were fictitious and Horizon Finance say that for a
:22:06. > :22:09.short period while their computer system was upgraded a reliable
:22:09. > :22:15.reference could not be generated. They say no customers were
:22:15. > :22:19.disadvantaged as a result. When we gent undercover hor's
:22:19. > :22:22.website said they aimed to find the lender best suited to your needs
:22:22. > :22:28.within the hour but getting the result that quickly not involves
:22:28. > :22:30.not one, but two premium rate calls potentially costing �38.25 plus
:22:30. > :22:34.network charges and that's within the rules if it's made clear from
:22:34. > :22:36.the outset. But when we were undercover neither the site nor the
:22:37. > :22:46.workers explained that if you wanted to hear within the hour it
:22:47. > :22:53.
:22:53. > :22:58.would involve a second premium rate His sole raison d'etre here is to
:22:58. > :23:01.get the customer ringing in to take the premium rate number so that she
:23:01. > :23:05.can actually dial that. He's treating the customers with
:23:05. > :23:08.contempt. It seems to be that the only thing he is interested in is
:23:08. > :23:13.spinning out a yarn so that he gets to give this premium rate number to
:23:13. > :23:18.the customer calling in. Horizon Finance told us all
:23:18. > :23:22.employees have a script which has been pre-approved by the regulator.
:23:22. > :23:25.They don't just make money from the premium rate calls, as brokers,
:23:25. > :23:28.Horizon are putting lender and borrower together so if the loan
:23:29. > :23:33.goes ahead they'll be paid a commission, too.
:23:33. > :23:43.All callers are told they can apply for a full refund for the premium
:23:43. > :24:01.
:24:01. > :24:04.rate calls. So how do Horizon make Horizon Finance say their
:24:04. > :24:08.commitment to offering full refunds has been recognised by the
:24:08. > :24:10.regulator as exceeding requirements. And they say they have one of the
:24:10. > :24:14.highest success rates in the industry.
:24:14. > :24:19.Since we approached them, they've taken the statement that they aim
:24:19. > :24:23.to match borrowers to suitable lenders within the hour down from
:24:23. > :24:28.their website. But there's another type of company out there in the
:24:28. > :24:31.world of cold calling. It's the kind of company which preys on the
:24:31. > :24:40.vulnerable, and picking up the phone to them could ruin more than
:24:40. > :24:43.your day, it could ruin your life. Four years ago, William McNaught
:24:43. > :24:47.received a cold call offering an investment opportunity.
:24:47. > :24:53.Two years on, and the 75-year-old widower had handed over his life
:24:53. > :24:56.savings. He started recording the calls.
:24:56. > :24:59.don't know how many times I have to tell you, I have already taken out
:24:59. > :25:03.a bank loan to appease you people. Look, I am not begging you to do
:25:03. > :25:11.this, you know what, I am not going to get on my knees and say please,
:25:11. > :25:16.I can move on to another another client and make money. When I say I
:25:16. > :25:19.have to and must, take a deposit for something it's because I am
:25:19. > :25:25.telling you the truth. I get nothing out of it. Nothing
:25:25. > :25:32.whatsoever. You see what I mean? Yeah. He is quite aggressive.
:25:32. > :25:35.yes, yes. William is sa victim of a land banking scam, where cold
:25:35. > :25:41.callers persuade people to invest thousands in worthless plots of
:25:41. > :25:48.land. William bought two here. What did you find out about the true
:25:48. > :25:56.worth of the land? The value of each plot was no more than �75.
:25:56. > :26:02.you had bought them for �20,000 in total? Yes. How did you feel when
:26:03. > :26:10.you found that out? Well, I felt quite distraught. What do do you?
:26:10. > :26:16.Where do you turn? According to the consumer magazine Which? This scam
:26:16. > :26:19.is all too common. The land banking scams do seem to be on the rise and
:26:19. > :26:23.this is a good example of what starts with a cold call can turn
:26:23. > :26:29.into you losing serious sums of money. The company that targeted
:26:29. > :26:35.William was called the Property Partnership, based in the city of
:26:35. > :26:39.London. Put it down in writing and seal see what happens. When dill
:26:39. > :26:44.William called to demand his money back the salesman would simply try
:26:44. > :26:47.to queas him for more. What do you mean we will see what happens? I am
:26:47. > :26:52.in charge here, do you want to wait another five years? I told you the
:26:52. > :26:57.last time we spoke I won't be alive in five years. I am 75 this year.
:26:57. > :27:05.OK, then we are fighting a losing battle. I can't help you unless we
:27:05. > :27:10.put a deposit down. The Property Partnership has since disappeared
:27:10. > :27:15.but they weren't the only company to sell virtually worthless land to
:27:15. > :27:20.William. Two other firms had him in his sights -- in their sights. In
:27:20. > :27:26.all, he bought 14 plots of land handing over �167,000. Having lost
:27:26. > :27:28.all his money, William has to keep working. City of London fraud
:27:28. > :27:31.detectives say they're actively investigating the tpeurpbls
:27:31. > :27:39.involved in targeting him. What does the future hold, William?
:27:39. > :27:45.me? A life of penury. A life of destitution. Although I am 76 this
:27:45. > :27:52.year, I live in dread of becoming old and doddery with no financial
:27:52. > :27:56.backing left. And that just about sums it up.
:27:56. > :28:01.We've learned to accept cold calling as an irritating fact of
:28:01. > :28:04.modern life. And yet it seems clear that the
:28:04. > :28:09.system for regulating the industry is flawed.
:28:09. > :28:14.It's already out of hand. At worst, it's costing people thousands of
:28:14. > :28:17.pounds in scams. At best, it's a real nuisance. The Government's got
:28:17. > :28:23.to get a grip on this and put the right resources into upholding the
:28:23. > :28:29.rules. But for now it seems that all too often the cold call cowboys
:28:29. > :28:31.are getting away with it. Next week: With Britain suffering