A company behind a series of bogus sales firms has declared itself insolvent – after being fined £150,000 for making nuisance calls.
Dial a Deal Scotland Ltd – run by social media “influencer” Yvonne McCuaig – is unable to pay its debt and has appointed a liquidator.
The Glasgow-based firm was exposed by the Sunday Mail in September for making more than half a million unwanted calls.
They’d call up people who had asked not to be contacted before trying to sell non-existent government grants using false trading names.
A probe found Dial a Deal also used spoof numbers so calls couldn’t be returned but were caught out after a record number of complaints were made to watchdog the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
That led to a massive £150,000 fine for a breach in the law surrounding marketing calls.
McCuaig, 43, from Helensburgh, portrays a life of luxury on Instagram to 87,000 followers and has previously claimed to make an “amazing income” from social media.
She is a director of the company alongside IT expert business partner Calum Kirkpatrick, 27, who is from Baillieston, Glasgow. Their move into liquidation is being seen as an attempt to avoid paying by the firm.
A source said: “It’s no coincidence the company is insolvent just after it’s given a £150,000 fine.”
A spokeswoman for the ICO said: “Where directors seek to avoid payment via insolvency, we actively exercise our full rights
as a creditor, including nominating Insolvency Practitioners whose investigations can result in personal claims against directors”.
Dial a Deal Scotland have appealed the fine.
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