Fraud: Internet

(asked on 24th March 2021) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the growth in the number of scams facilitated by content hosted on online platforms through adverts or user-generated content in the last twelve months.


Answered by
Kevin Foster Portrait
Kevin Foster
This question was answered on 13th April 2021

Fraudsters have shown they can and will exploit any vulnerability to commit their crimes, including through the use of technology and the internet. We are working with law enforcement and industry to close down these vulnerabilities.

Last year, the National Cyber Security Centre launched the Suspicious Email Reporting Service which has already led to tens of thousands of harmful websites and scams being shut down. We are also seeking to expand membership of the Joint Fraud Taskforce to involve a wider network of stakeholders in our fraud prevention activity.

We are also considering other routes to ensure the public are safe from all forms of online fraud, including legislation. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport is leading efforts on the Online Advertising Programme which will consider further regulation of online advertising to tackle harms including fraud.

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