A company that made its money promising to protect elderly people from nuisance calls has been fined £190,000 for “hounding” them with hundreds of thousands of nuisance calls of its own.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said Elderly Aids Ltd, a company selling call-blocking devices, made 758,053 cold calls between May 2024 and February 2025 to try to sell its products.

About 20 complaints were made to the ICO and the Telephone Preference Service – a service that prevents people’s telephone numbers from being shared – some of which said callers were aggressive, misleading and often failed to identify themselves.

One complainant said they were “overcharging for call-blocking services that they aren’t authorised to sell – my father was persuaded to sign up to pay £139 upfront and a £6.99 monthly fee”.

The ICO described Elderly Aids’s actions as “bombarding people with the very nuisance calls it claimed to protect them from”.

When the ICO started investigating the company, Elderly Aids repeatedly ignored requests for information while continuing to cold call people, the ICO said.

The company also attempted to strike itself off the Companies House register once it became aware it was under scrutiny and is now registered at a default address.

Andy Curry, the head of investigations at the ICO, said: “Not only did this company target vulnerable people who had explicitly asked not to be called – they harassed them to sell call-blocking devices.

“EAL showed a complete disregard for the law and the people they were hounding. This penalty should serve as a clear warning to any business that thinks the law does not apply to them – we will hold them to account for both exploiting people in this way and trying to avoid accountability.”

Alongside the fine, the ICO also ordered Elderly Aids to stop making illegal marketing calls.

It is illegal to make a marketing call to someone who is registered with the TPS unless the person has informed the specific company that they are happy to take calls from them.

Russell Roach, the director of preference services at the Data & Marketing Association, said: “Anyone making live marketing calls must respect the choices people have made about their privacy.

“When organisations ignore those preferences and contact individuals who have explicitly opted out of receiving unsolicited sales calls, particularly those who are most vulnerable, they undermine consumer trust and risk causing significant nuisance and distress.”

If Elderly Aids does not pay the fine, the ICO said it could take further action to recover it, including looking to disqualify the company’s directors.