Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to prevent websites from imitating legitimate digital services in order to mislead consumers into entering paid subscriptions.

The Online Safety Act lists certain fraud offences as ‘priority offences’, meaning regulated services must prevent users encountering user-generated fraudulent content, swiftly remove it when appearing, and mitigate and manage the risk of their services facilitating fraud. Ofcom has robust powers to act where services are failing in their regulatory duties.

Online platforms must comply with The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which clarifies that online platforms must exercise professional diligence in relation to consumer transactions promoted or made on their platforms.  The legislation carries criminal penalties and is enforced by Trading Standards officers and the Competition and Markets Authority.