Boss of firm that used cold-calling to sell call-blocking devices is jailed
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Version 0 of 1. A businessman whose cold-calling company swindled thousands of elderly people out of £600,000 by mis-selling them call-blocking devices has been jailed for five years. Staff at Giles Ward-Best’s firm Telecom Protection Services cold-called almost 10,000 unwitting customers, often claiming they were calling from reputable organisations including BT, in order to sell them the £99 Call Blocker device. Victims found that the gadget did not work, caused their internet to fail or was only compatible if they had a caller ID on their landline. Disgruntled customers of the firm then found they were unable to return faulty devices or were not refunded after cancelling their orders within the specified cooling-off period. Trading Standards officials were inundated with more than 200 complaints about the Bournemouth-based company and launched a two-year investigation. Guardian Money first highlighted the problem in 2015. During the investigation, Ward-Best, 43, dissolved the business. Earlier this year, a Trading Standards specialist Scambuster Team executed a raid on Telecom Protection Services and seized telesales scripts and bank statements. They found that the firm carried out 9,633 transactions for the call-blocking device, totalling £861,153. After successful refunds and declined bank payments, Ward-Best’s company pocketed £600,000, of which he withdrew £424,000 between September 2013 and July 2015. Trading Standards and Dorset police prosecuted Ward-Best, who was charged with operating a business for a fraudulent purpose contrary to the Companies Act 2006. He denied charges but was found guilty after a trial. Jailing him at Bournemouth crown court, Judge Jonathan Fuller QC described cold-call centres such as his as “endemic” in Britain. He said: “A distasteful part of this fraud was that it used the methods that it claimed to try and stop. You therefore exploited those you promised to protect from exploitation. “You were just another scammer using carefully crafted lies. Scripts were riddled with falsehoods and misleading information. You deserve to be called a scammer and a fraudster.” Ward-Best, who last year was fined £80,000 for failing to register consumers’ personal data with the Information Commissioner’s Office, was also disqualified from directing a company for 10 years. Andy Sherriff, Trading Standards manager at Bournemouth borough council, which investigated Ward-Best, said: “Ward-Best established his business on a foundation of lies. “He sought to take advantage of ordinary people who simply wanted relief from the scourge of cold-calling, and he exploited customers who were entitled to believe that he could help them. “He adopted trading styles that appeared to relate to TPS (the Telephone Preference Service) in order to convince customers that his business was legitimate. “I am delighted that the jury were able to see through his self-serving excuses and that the hard work of our officers and colleagues paid off. “This sentence should also be a warning to others with get-rich-quick ideas and no scruples. The law recognises what you do as a scam, a con, a fraud – and will deal with you accordingly,” he said. |