The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has announced that five "predatory" firms who bombarded elderly and vulnerable people across the UK with more than 750,000 marketing calls have been fined £405,000.
The companies targeted people who had signed up with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) - a free register for those who do not want to receive any marketing calls to their mobile phone or landline - to sell insurance for appliances such as televisions, washing machines and fridges.
The ICO said most of the companies deliberately targeted older people after buying details about their age and landline numbers from third parties.
