The UK government is making changes to its Online Safety Bill to force social media companies and search engines to prevent fraudsters using their platforms to conduct scams.
The government said it will add a duty to the bill forcing social media platforms and search engines to prevent paid-for fraudulent adverts appearing on their services.
“The change will improve protections for internet users from the potentially devastating impact of fake ads, including where criminals impersonate celebrities or companies to steal people’s personal data, peddle dodgy financial investments or break into bank accounts,” said the government.
Culture secretary Nadine Dorries added: “These changes to the upcoming Online Safety Bill will help stop fraudsters conning people out of their hard-earned cash using fake online adverts. As technology revolutionises more and more of our lives, the law must keep up.”
Banks have been calling for the government to force tech companies to take some responsibility for scams such as authorised push payment (APP) fraud, also known as bank transfer fraud, which sees criminals use fake websites and emails to trick consumers into authorising payments to them.
Banks felt they were overburdened with responsibility for fraud such as APP because they are mandated to repay customers’ losses.
In January last year, Anne Boden, CEO of digital challenger Starling Bank, called for cooperation between different sectors to clamp down on APP fraud.
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