Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress the Joint Fraud Taskforce has made on tackling online scams; and if she will make a statement.

The Government is committed to tackling all forms of crime, including those which exploit technology and the internet. The Government continues to work alongside various industries to close down vulnerabilities and prevent fraud that occurs both online and offline. We are also considering all routes to ensure law enforcement have the tools they need to go after these criminals and to protect the vulnerable.

Our efforts to tackle online scams have been ramping up, including working with the National Cyber Security Centre to establish a new Suspicious Email Reporting Service which was launched in April 2020. This service allows the public to report potential scams safely and effectively. As of 28 February 2021, the number of reports received stand at more than 5,000,000 with the removal of more than 36,000 scams and 71,000 URLs.

We are currently in the process of reforming the Joint Fraud Taskforce to reinvigorate the forum to expand our public-private partnership approach, as outlined in the Economic Crime Plan. The refreshed board, chaired at Ministerial level, will have an expanded membership to involve a wider network of stakeholders in our fraud prevention activity.