Internet: Fraud

(asked on 12th May 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to protect the public from financial scams and fraud promoted by online platforms; whether such plans include preventing such platforms from profiting from fraudulent operators or scammers; and if so, how.


Answered by
Baroness Barran Portrait
Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This question was answered on 26th May 2021

My department has been considering how online advertising is regulated through its Online Advertising Programme, and will be consulting on this issue later this year. The government will set out its plans in the consultation.

Our aim is to foster fair, accountable and ethical online advertising that works for citizens, businesses and society as a whole. In particular, we want to ensure standards about the placement and content of advertising can be effectively applied and enforced online so that consumers have limited exposure to harmful or misleading advertising.

As part of our departure from the EU HM Treasury removed an exemption to the financial promotions regime available to online platforms for incoming electronic communications from the EU.

As a result of that change, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is looking at the operations of the major online platforms to determine whether their communication of financial promotion is subject to the financial promotions restriction, and if so, whether they are compliant. Where they are not, the FCA will take action to ensure consumers are protected. HM Treasury is supporting the FCA in these conversations going forward.

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