Gatekeepers of internet urged to do more to fight fraud

interactive investor comments on FCA speech on financial scams.

Commenting on a speech published today on the rise in scams by the Financial Conduct Authority’s Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight, Myron Jobson, Personal Finance Campaigner, interactive investor, says: “Along with the wider financial services sector, the gatekeepers of the internet have a starring role in tackling the scourge of financial scams.

“As such, search engines and social media platforms are an important line of defence to help shield users from phoney ‘too be good to be true’ money-making opportunities – an unwitting source of dirty revenue for these tech giants. The city watchdog said it has ratcheted up its proactive monitoring of the internet to weed out financial scams, but it is essentially powerless to stop it at the source.

“While it is nigh impossible to catch every financial scam at its source, it is all too easy for unscrupulous individuals to promote their scams to the masses impersonating some of Britain’s best-known financial services companies.

“Greater action clearly needs to be taken by the gatekeepers of the internet from being unwitting conduits for scammers. There is no time to delay as the coronavirus crisis has created a perfect storm for fraud. These tech giants may be forced into greater action sooner rather than later if measures to tackle user-generated fraud in the Online Safety Bill see the light of day. Being forced into action by legislation is not a good look.

“Meanwhile, we urge everyone to follow the FCAs official guidance on how to avoid scams, and we will only ever ask for customer ii log in details on ii.co.uk and our mobile app – always be suspicious if anyone asks for your details – it’s a huge red flag.”