Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that UK citizens are protected from online fraud and the rise in social media and text messaging scams.

The Government is committed to doing everything we can to stop criminals abusing online platforms and telecommunications networks for fraud. This is why we published the Fraud Strategy, setting out how we will address the threat of this crime. One of the three pillars included in the strategy focuses on blocking frauds from happening in the first place, which includes actions to prevent online fraud and telecommunications-enabled fraud.

We are currently working with tech companies to create an Online Fraud Charter which will include a number of voluntary actions to help design out fraud. The Online Safety Bill will also tackle online harms, including fraud and fraudulent advertising. This means that social media and search engine companies will have to take robust, proactive action to ensure that their users are not exposed to these crimes in the first place. We expect this to have a strong impact on some of the highest harm fraud types.

In October 2021, we launched the Telecommunications Fraud Sector Charter which includes actions to block scam calls and smishing texts. In the strategy, we also announced the launch of a consultation with a view to ban SIM farms. These are devices that allow fraudsters to send hundreds of thousands of scam texts in short time and at low cost. We are consulting on making it illegal to sell, purchase, possess, or use SIM farms. Following the consultation, we will rapidly bring forward legislation to ensure criminals can no longer use them to scam UK citizens.

Whilst it is vital we continue to target the criminals behind fraud and work with industry to make it harder for them to operate, one of the best ways to safeguard the public is to also ensure they are well-informed about how to protect themselves. That is why raising awareness and safeguarding victims forms another of the three pillars in the Fraud Strategy.