Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to tackle online scams during the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government recognises the serious risks presented by online scams and fraud and are committed to tackling fraudulent activity online.

Fraudsters will use any hook, including Covid-19, to commit these terrible crimes and we must therefore remain vigilant to any risks and vulnerabilities. We are working collaboratively across government to reaffirm messages to the public setting out how they can protect themselves from fraud and stay safe online.

This is why we launched a gov.uk page targeted at coronavirus-related fraud and cybercrime. The page includes easy-to-follow steps for people to better protect themselves as well as signposting all relevant advice and tips and can currently be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-fraud-and-cyber-crime.

As well as this, we continue to work alongside law enforcement to ensure the public has the protection and advice needed to shield themselves from online crimes.

We continue to encourage anyone who has been a targeted by a scam to report it. Action Fraud is the central police reporting point for all victims of fraud and can be contacted by phone on 0300 123 2040 or through their website: http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud.

We have also worked with the National Cyber Security Centre to recently establish a Suspicious Email Reporting Service. This service allows the public to report potential scams safely and effectively and to date, has led to the removal of 22,192 scams. Members of the public can forward suspicious emails to this address: report@phishing.gov.uk