The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued a £300,000 fine against Manchester-based KRA Consultancy Limited. This represents a major enforcement action against nuisance marketing in the UK in recent years and demonstrates the stringent regulatory oversight of A2P marketing SMS under PECR.
Between April 2022 and May 2025, the company sent more than 5.57 million unsolicited debt-promotion A2P marketing SMS messages to indebted individuals whose loan applications had been rejected. Some messages contained threatening content falsely claiming bailiffs would seize property to intimidate recipients, triggering over 60,000 complaints submitted to the ICO and the 7726 spam SMS reporting service. Investigators found the firm carried out no checks to confirm recipient consent for marketing. Company directors also contacted telecom service providers in China, seeking to make the SMS “completely untraceable”. Even after enforcement officers executed a search warrant, the business continued unlawful SMS marketing, generating more than one hundred additional complaints.
In addition to the £300,000 fine, the ICO served an enforcement notice ordering the company to cease all marketing SMS without recipient consent within 30 days. Notably, the debt-promotion firm was not registered with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Regulators stated the business deliberately harassed and intimidated financially vulnerable target groups despite full awareness of their circumstances, causing psychological distress to victims. The substantial fine reflects the UK’s tough stance against illegal A2P spam SMS.
