Falcon & Pointer loses licence over 40m nuisance calls

A Swansea-based firm that made almost 40 million nuisance calls in three months has had its licence revoked.

Falcon & Pointer Ltd used automatic dialling technology to make the calls about mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI).

The Claims Management Regulator (CMR) revoked the licence following hundreds of complaints from the public.

The firm set out to "plague the public and rip off consumers", the regulator said.

The CMR, based at the Ministry of Justice, regulates companies that offer to help people claim compensation for issues such as personal and criminal injury and mis-sold financial products.

Anonymous calls

Under new laws being introduced by the UK government, direct marketing companies will soon have to display their phone numbers to customers - companies that do not will face fines of up to £500,000.

Research for the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has shown that around 20% of marketing calls do not provide a valid caller ID.

Since January 2012, the ICO has issued fines totalling £2m for nuisance calls.

In 2015, there were 170,000 complaints.

The Department of Culture Media and Sport has launched a consultation on the issue, which will close on 23 February.

Measures will be in force by the spring, the government promised.