Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions has his Department had with Trading Standards on gift card fraud.

DBT regularly engages in discussions with Trading Standards on a variety of consumer protection issues. However, there have not been any discussions specifically on gift card fraud.

The City of London Police and UK Finance recently authored a report on Gift Card Fraud “The Use of Gift Cards as Enablers to Fraud & Cybercrime FY2023-24” and there have been several police operations in this space.

As set out in the Fraud Strategy, the Home Office is working with the specified anti-fraud organisation, CIFAS and retailers and logistics companies to develop proposals to protect the retail sector from fraud, including examining options for a retail-funded unit within the City of London Police. See: Fraud Strategy 2026 to 2029 - GOV.UK.