The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, lashed out at the rampant financial scams and is launching a new plan on Wednesday to tackle fraud.
UK Tackles Financial Fraud
“Fraud now accounts for over 40% of crime. It costs us nearly £7 billion a year, and we know these proceeds are funding organized crime and terror. What’s more, new technologies are making these scams easier to do and harder to police,” Sunak said.
“It’s time to take the fight to the scammers and fraudsters and put an end to these crimes which can devastate lives and livelihoods within seconds.”
A Ban on Cold Calls
Online fraud and scams have become rampant across the globe. Scammers trap potential victims with lucrative returns on investments and often push them for investment with push tactics, known as boiler room scams.
Sunak’s plan to fight the fraudsters includes intervention in three areas. First, the UK government will outlaw ‘SIM farms’, which allow criminals to send scam texts to thousands of people simultaneously. In addition, the government will work with the Office of Communications, which oversees the broadcasting, telecommunications, and postal industries, to tackle number ‘spoofing’ as scammers often impersonate banks, telephone companies, or other legitimate businesses.
Furthermore, the UK will impose a blanket ban on cold calls for all financial products. With this law in place, people receiving calls for cryptocurrency or other high-risk investment schemes will know it is a scam.
“Modern technology has opened up new ways for criminals to bombard people with a barrage of fake calls, texts, emails, and WhatsApp messages,” said Sunak, and his plans are focused on stopping these communication channels of fraudsters. About 41 million Britons were targeted with calls and texts last summer, according to the BBC.
On top of that, the UK will launch a new National Fraud Squad led by the National Crime Agency and the City of London Police, which handle fraud-related complaints. Additionally, the UK agencies will work with international counterparts to share and gather information on fraudsters.
Moreover, the UK will invest £30 million to establish a fraud reporting center and make fraud reporting very simple by collaborating with tech companies. Furthermore, the UK government is looking to provide banks more time to process payments, allowing them to investigate suspicious payments.
“Our plan will help protect you and your loved ones from these scams and the predators who perpetrate them. The time has come to put the fraudsters out of business. And that’s what I’m determined to do,” Sunak added.
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