Crash details stolen from garages in 'vast, murky criminal network'
Eight men have been convicted in the UK's largest case of personal data misuse for nuisance calls, involving the theft of approximately a million people's details from vehicle repair garages, which were then sold to claims management firms to generate personal injury claims leads.
Eight men have been convicted of running what investigators call the largest data-harvesting scheme ever uncovered to feed Britain’s nuisance-call industry, after stealing crash-repair records from garages and selling the details to claims-management companies.
Bolton Crown Court heard that between 2014 and 2017 the gang plundered the personal data of roughly one million motorists from vehicle-repair workshops across England, Scotland and Wales without the owners’ consent. The information—names, phone numbers, accident circumstances—was then traded to firms that bombarded drivers with cold calls encouraging personal-injury claims.
Craig Cornick, 40, of Heybridge Lane, Macclesfield, was found guilty of conspiracy to unlawfully obtain personal data under the Data Protection Act; his barrister said an appeal will be lodged. Thomas Daly, 35, of London Road, Macclesfield, admitted two identical conspiracy counts before trial. Both men were cleared of Computer Misuse Act offences.
Six further defendants pleaded guilty. Vincent McCartan, 30, of Holt Street, Failsworth; Ian Flanagan, 40, of Chester Road, Macclesfield; Mark Preece, 44, of Lines Road, Droylsden; Kiernan Thorlby, 35, of Turner Rise, Bollington; Adam Crompton, 35, of Whitmore Road, Middlewich; and Fahad Moktadir, 32, of Stockport, each admitted conspiracy to unlawfully obtain data; the first four also admitted unauthorised computer access. Sentencing was adjourned; all eight face Proceeds of Crime hearings.
The Information Commissioner’s Office launched its inquiry in 2016 after a County Durham garage owner complained that customers blamed him for a surge in calls. Seized devices contained 4.5 million documents, including 144,000 spreadsheets packed with illegally harvested records. ICO Head of Investigations Andy Curry said the probe “uncovered a vast, murky criminal network where crash details were stolen from garages … and traded to fuel distressing predatory calls.”
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