Telecommunications Fraud: Reimbursement of Victims

Baroness Doocey Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

My noble friend can rest assured that under the Online Safety Act, which passed with an element of cross-party support but which has now been implemented by this Government, we have put in place stringent standards whereby, if illegal, harmful and fraudulent content is hosted by companies and they do not remove it when requested to do so, they will face fines and penalties which are severe. As I said to the noble Lord, Lord Vaux, we intend to keep that under review. We intend to look at how it is working, and if it is not working to a satisfactory level, we will take further action in the forthcoming fraud strategy paper that will be produced towards the end of this year.

[Baroness Doocey (LD)]

My Lords, Facebook’s removal of fact-checkers from its platforms leaves people even more exposed, with a new person scammed every seven minutes. To make matters worse, Ofcom decided to delay implementing its codes of practice for paid-for fraudulent advertising. Does the Minister share my concern that this decision by Ofcom means that key parts of the Online Safety Act will not be fully enforced until at least 2027?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

The noble Baroness has mentioned the fraudulent advertising duty, which, again, is a key part of the Online Safety Act. Ofcom assures me that it will consult very shortly, towards the summer, on codes of practice that will look at the very issue that she has mentioned—the advertising duty—with an aim to publish the final advertising codes around this time next year.