I'm sure I've posted on this previously under a different thread but can't remember what it was.   We are on TPS and have had two unsolicited phone calls within 24 hours (again!)  The first was trying to sell bonds/stocks, number withheld, the second was a recorded "congratulations message" - I did 1471 & the number rang, it was answered by an American woman who, when I told her we were on TPS & not to call again or else, told me the laws did not apply in America & slammed down the phone!   Surely there must be SOMETHING we can do to protect ourselves from such intrusion?   On both occasions, our caller displayed showed "out of area" & 1471 does not have the number.

Absolutely right, the TPS does not apply to foreign calls unfortunately and if it did, how could they be prosecuted? I have talked to TPS and BT about this and there seems that there is nothing to be done except to have all un recognised calls blocked. Also the unsolicited mail that comes from abroad is not covered by the mail preference either

The call about bonds and stocks, could originate from where you have some shares in a company and the share register is available to anyone. You may have or had some bank shares that used to be a building society and they have found your number that way.

Of course it goes without saying that if you have expressed interest at any time in anything and you have not 'ticked' or 'unticked' the relevent boxes in the forms 'on line' or on 'paper' you will get telephone calls or junk through the post.

Hope this helps

There is just one qualification to the comment about calls from overseas, although it may not apply in the cases mentioned.

Any company with a presence in the UK that uses an overseas call centre or sister company to call to the UK is still liable under the terms of the PECR (covering unsolicited marketing messages) and the Communications Act (covering Silent Calls). The point where the call is originated is not the issue.

A further qualification which applies to the second of the calls mentioned.

The TPS, un-ticked opt out boxes and existing relationships are of no relevance when it comes to recorded messages with a "direct marketing purpose" (a term which has a very wide interpretation, e.g. extending to political parties as the Lib Dems discovered last year). Consent to a recorded marketing message must be explicit, i.e. clearly stated as relating to this very purpose. This means that all such messages are illegal.

Those who are particularly annoyed by those unsolicited calls which escape or breach regulations could consider using a device such as "True Call", which provides an automated telephone receptionist to prevent such calls from getting through to making the phone ring. With the many other features that it offers, this presently comes at the fairly high price of £99.99. This makes it an option for those who have the money and the desire to benefit from its many features, rather than being a general purpose solution to the problem of unwanted calls.

SCV, thank you for that.  If/when we get more of these, it means we can report it if we can find out the company name & confirm there is a UK presence.   There really ought to be a better system but all these direct marketing organisations seem to think one is missing something if one doesn't want their rubbish - either postal or via the phone!

I'd just like to second what SCV said. I spoke to the Information Commissioner's Office after receiving quite a number of automated calls, mainly about debt consolidation. They confirmed that the calls are illegal, and suggested the next step was to contact BT and get them to trace the calls (she made it sound as if they'd have no trouble tracing the number even though there was no CLID). I never did follow this up, though. I have the say, the lady at the ICO was extremely helpful and pleasant, quite a change from the service when you phone most companies or similar organisations.

I did once get put though to one caller, and asked him whether his company was registered in the UK, and if so whether I could have the registration number. He asked why, and I said I only dealt with financial companies that I know are properly regulated. But after hassling him a bit more, he hung up on me. Of course, failure to provide company information is also an offence.

I can confirm that the BT Nuisance Calls Bureau will indeed be happy to provide the tracing facility to those who are receiving a number of these automated message calls. They are working positively with the ICO on this and with some appropriate pushing, I think that we should be able to expect results, although, as ever, this will seem painfully slow.

Other NCBx should be encouraged to do the same.

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Dec 4^th, 2009 at 11:25pm:

I can confirm that the BT Nuisance Calls Bureau will indeed be happy to provide the tracing facility to those who are receiving a number of these automated message calls. They are working positively with the ICO on this and with some appropriate pushing, I think that we should be able to expect results, although, as ever, this will seem painfully slow. Other NCBx should be encouraged to do the same.

Well when I asked BT they refused to do so unless I had a number for them to trace.

sherbert wrote on Dec 6^th, 2009 at 12:53pm:

Well when I asked BT they refused to do so unless I had a number for them to trace.

This is a quite absurd response to a request for provision of the facility used to identify the source of calls. It is also bizarre, as BT is restrained by law from providing public information about a number.