I received an automated call a few minutes ago from Palm Travel – despite being on the Telephone Preference Service, which means I shouldn’t get marketing calls – and they had some good news for me. They’ve been trying to get hold of me for ages, because someone in my household entered a prize draw last year, and won! So I’ve definitely got a holiday in Florida or £5K in cash. Just call this number!

Of course, it’s a load of crap; the number is an 0906 number, which means it’s likely to cost around £1.50 per minute and last for some time. It’s a particularly unpleasant stunt because people obviously do call the premium rate numbers; if they didn’t, nobody would bother with the scams.

The thing is, you can fight back. The telecoms watchdogs can and do fine companies that do this kind of stuff, and you can click here to file a complaint online. Firms have been fined tens of thousands of pounds for phone spam, so it’s definitely worth doing.

The next time you get one of these calls, take a note of the company name and the number it wants you to call, then follow the above link to grass them up. If you can find out more with a quick Google then by all means do so – the more information you can provide, the easier the investigation will be; then, if you’re a member of the Telephone Preference Service, you can grass them up again, which could lead to a further £5,000 fine.

Update: there’s a good article detailing your options with nuisance calls here.