Phone cards used for nuisance texts seized in Wolverhampton raid
Hundreds of SIM cards which could have been used to send up to a million nuisance text messages have been seized during a raid in the Black Country.
Offices in Wolverhampton were raided by the Information Commissioner's Office following intelligence that messages had been sent from there.
It is believed the SIM cards had been used to send more than 350,000 texts to members of the public, although the overall total could be as many as one million.
The operation is thought to have been masterminded by only a few individuals, rather than a large firm, although the details cannot be released as an investigation is ongoing.
Commonly, the information sent back by those who receive text messages in such scams is then sold on to others illegally, although it is not clear whether that is the case in this operation.
Multiple SIM cards would have been needed because there is a limit to the number of text messages a single SIM can send out before being shut down.
Computer equipment and paperwork were also seized in the raid and a residential address was also searched.
The investigation continues.
Andy Curry, enforcement manager at the ICO, said: "What we've seized today backs the intelligence we had that hundreds of thousands of nuisance messages were coming from this address.
"The rules on sending messages are clear, and if the evidence proves the law has been broken, we will issue a sizeable fine against those responsible."
The raid was prompted by intelligence supported by reports using the '7726' tool, which allows mobile phone users to report spam text messages by forwarding them on to the number 7726, spelling out SPAM on a telephone keypad.
Mr Curry said: "This shows why reporting messages to us and your mobile network operator is so crucial.
"Without the reports we got through the 7726 system, we wouldn't have been able to carry out this raid today."
The raid follows an announcement by the ICO last week that a Yorkshire direct marketing firm and a Devon PPI claims company face fines totalling £140,000 for breaching electronic marketing rules.
The companies were linked to thousands of nuisance marketing calls and prompted more than 1,200 reports to the ICO and the Telephone Preference Service.
For more information on how to report nuisance calls and texts to the ICO, visit http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public/topic_specific_guides/marketing
