Financial services company Kalkine fined $350,000 for spamming customers

A company has been slammed by the communications watchdog after getting hold of thousands of phone numbers and email addresses.

A financial services company has copped a staggering $350,000 fine for spamming its customers in unsolicited messages.

Australian financial services research company Kalkine and its news arm Kalkine Media have to foot a $251,400 and $100,800 penalty respectively for unwanted emails and phone calls.

They were caught out by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) following customer complaints for sending 2774 spam emails and ringing up more than 5400 phone numbers.

Kalkine called 7200 times to numbers that were listed on the Do Not Call register between January and September 2020, an ACMA investigation found.

Meanwhile, Kalkine Media got hold of more than 2700 email addresses and sent them spam without their consent during the same period.

They were found to have breached Australia’s telemarketing and spam laws.

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Kalkine has been fined. Source: LinkedIn.

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The ACMA said the whopping fine was the first “significant“ penalty it had issued ever since announcing a crackdown on marketing practices in the financial sector.

ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said Kalkine should be punished because it was a huge breach of privacy, ultimately “unlawful”.

“This unlawful marketing was an intrusion on the privacy of thousands of Australians,” she said.

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Australians were sent thousands of spam emails from the company.

“We are focusing our efforts on the financial services sector because of the potential for broader financial harms and impacts involved.

“Unwanted calls and spam have significant social and economic impacts.

“They can lead to serious harm for people in vulnerable circumstances who may agree to spend money on products and services they don’t want or need.”

The watchdog agency said this wasn’t the first fine, but was the first of this magnitude.

In the last 18 months, they have issued fines to multiple businesses totalling $2.4 million.

News.com.au has contacted Kalkine for comment.