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<p>The Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is dedicated to protecting
the public from this devastating crime. Tackling fraud requires a unified and co-ordinated
response from government, law enforcement and the private sector to better protect
the public and businesses from fraud, reduce the impact of fraud on victims, and increase
the disruption and prosecution of fraudsters.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is taking
action through legislation through the Financial Services and Markets Bill which will
enable and require the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) to mandate reimbursement for
victims of Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams, where a victim is tricked into sending
money to a fraudster. This measure will enable consumers across the country to receive
more consistent and comprehensive protection against these increasingly sophisticated
scams, ensuring victims are not left paying for fraud through no fault of their own.</p><p>
</p><p>The Government is also taking action to address fraudulent activity being hosted
online through the Online Safety Bill. The Bill includes a new standalone duty requiring
large internet firms to tackle fraudulent advertising, including of financial services.</p><p>
</p><p>In addition to this, the total Spending Review 2021 settlement and the Economic
Crime Levy represent an overall package of circa £400 million to tackle economic crime
over the next three years, including fraud.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is working
closely with industry to tackle fraud. In 2021, the Joint Fraud Taskforce (JFT) published
three voluntary sector charters. The charters aim to combat fraud in the accountancy,
retail banking and telecommunications sectors and include commitments to develop innovative
measures to reduce fraud facilitated through these industries, e.g., money muling
and SMS enabled fraud.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, the Government intends to publish a
new strategy to address the threat of fraud shortly. Through this strategy, the Government
will work with industry to remove the vulnerabilities that fraudsters exploit, with
intelligence agencies to shut down fraudulent infrastructure, with law enforcement
to identify and bring the most harmful offenders to justice, and with all partners
to ensure that the public have the advice and support they need.</p>
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