Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of provisions to protect vulnerable individuals from online scams in Surrey Heath constituency.

This Government is working extremely closely with industry, regulators, law enforcement and consumer groups to close the vulnerabilities that criminals exploit and stop scams reaching people.

This includes regulation through the Online Safety Act, which entered into law in April, and which requires in-scope companies to tackle fraud originating on their platforms. Ofcom, acting as the independent regulator, has the power to levy significant fines on companies who they deem are not doing enough in doing so.

Beyond regulation, the Government continues to support the national Stop! Think Fraud campaign to help people spot and take action to avoid fraud. The campaign and supporting website, make it easier for the public to safeguard themselves, their family and friends through a range of protective behaviours.

The Government is also working with the City of London Police in coordinating the Fraud Protect Network. The network is made up of local, regional and national law enforcement officers and is designed to reduce the threat of fraud and revictimization by providing consistent protect messaging and safeguarding advice to the public.