A FIRM has been slapped with a £50,000 fine after a raft of complaints were made about “annoying” spam text messages that they were behind.

LAD Media, which is registered in Bury but has its base in Sale, broke the law around how organisations can use people’s details for marketing texts.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) fined the firm £50,000 after an investigation revealed it had instigated the sending of nearly 400,000 spam texts about debt.

Steve Eckersley, ICO head of enforcement, said: “LAD Media did not comply with the law designed to protect people from receiving disruptive spam texts.

“This resulted in over 150 complaints about text messages they were behind, and undoubtedly many other people were left frustrated and annoyed by the texts. We’ve used these complaints to investigate the firm, resulting in the fine.”

On its website, LAD Media describes itself as a lead generation and data brokerage business operating in the financial services, debt management and consumer claims sector.

It sources and supplies “high quality B2B and B2C data and leads from trusted sources that drive high conversions for marketing campaigns”.

The contravening text message read: “Government schemes allow you to write off a high % of debt you cannot afford, reply HELP or go to www.resolvefinance.co.uk for information. Or Stop to opt-out.”

LAD Media told the ICO that it had bought the data used to send the texts from a third party supplier. Another company sent on the text messages on behalf of LAD Media.

Organisations buying in lists of people’s details to use for marketing, or contracting another firm to carry out marketing for them, must make rigorous checks to ensure personal details have been obtained fairly and lawfully and that the people have given consent to receive the text messages.

Companies much not disguise or conceal their identity and must provide a valid contact address to opt-out or unsubscribe.

People can report spam text messages by forwarding them 7726.

Steve said: “I’d encourage anyone bother by a spam text to report it via the tool on the ICO website or via the 7726 service. These reports inform our investigations and help us take action against firms responsible.”