Bahama Times

Friday, Jun 09, 2023

Crackdown on 'text scam misery' launched with new anti-fraud plan - but critics say it's not enough

Crackdown on 'text scam misery' launched with new anti-fraud plan - but critics say it's not enough

The government says it is launching a fightback against fraud - but opposition MPs say the plans do not go far enough.

The home secretary has pledged to stop "text scam misery" with a new action plan to fightback against fraud.

The strategy, to be laid out in parliament on Wednesday, will include banning cold calls on all financial products, such as those relating to insurance or sham cryptocurrency schemes, as well as plans to work with Ofcom to clamp down on number "spoofing", so fraudsters cannot impersonate legitimate UK phone numbers.

Banks will also be allowed to delay payments from being processed for longer to allow for suspect payments to be investigated.

But opposition parties said the plans do not go far enough while money saving expert Martin Lewis said they were a "good first step" but progress is likely to be "slow going".

Under the new strategy, the government also plans to crack down on methods used by scammers to reach thousands of people at once - such as so-called "SIM farms" and review the use of mass texting services to keep these technologies out of the hands of criminals.

Meanwhile, Action Fraud - the UK's fraud reporting centre - will be replaced with a new system within the year, backed by a £30m investment including 400 new investigators.

In an op-ed for The Telegraph ahead of the official announcement, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said fraud accounts for 41% of all crime across England and Wales and more than 3.7 million offences were reported last year - costing nearly £7bn.

She pledged to "stop the text scam misery", adding: "Our action needs to be bold and firm, but prevention is as important as any cure. That's why there must be an increased effort to block fraud at source."

Suella Braverman has vowed to 'stop the text scam misery'


And Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: "We will take the fight to these fraudsters, wherever they try to hide."

However Labour's Emily Thornberry hit out at the plans, saying they ignore the "tens of billions being lost to fraud against businesses and the government".

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, added: "This plan is too little, too late and fails to match the scale of the problem.

"All the home secretary has delivered is a rebadging of existing national teams, and a re-announcement on the replacement of Action Fraud from almost two years ago."

The Liberal Democrats's home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael was also critical, saying the new fraud squad was a "drop in the ocean" for what is needed to protect victims.

A new anti-fraud champion, Anthony Browne MP, has been appointed and the plans have also been backed by money saving expert Martin Lewis as "a good first step in the right direction".

However he added: "They should improve prevention and prosecution, but it will be slow going.

"Ultimately this is all about putting enough resources in to build a dam to stop the flood. I hope we will see that happen."

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Bahama Times
Close
0:00
0:00
US and European Intelligence Agencies Uncover Evidence of Ukrainian Role in Terror Attack on Nord Stream Pipeline
Nvidia Joins Tech Giants as First Chipmaker to Reach $1 Trillion Valuation
Drone Attack on Moscow's Wealthiest Neighborhoods Suspected to be Launched by Ukraine
AI ‘extinction’ should be same priority as nuclear war – experts
Prominent Hacker Forum RaidForums Suffers Substantial Data Breach
Nvidia CEO Huang says firms, individuals without AI expertise will be left behind
WPP Revolutionizes Advertising with NVIDIA's AI Powerhouse
Two US Employees Fired For Chasing Robbers Out Of Store As They Broke ''Company Policy''
If you donated to BLM, you got played
Pfizer, the EU, and disappearing ink - Smoke, Mirrors, and the Billion-Dose Pfizer Vaccine Deal: EU's 'Open Secret
Actor Tom Hanks told Harvard University graduates to be superheroes in their defense of truth and American ideals, and to resist those who twist the truth for their own gain
The Sussexes' Royal Rebound: Could Harry and Meghan Markle Return to the UK?
A provocative study suggests: Left-Wing Extremism and its Unsettling Connection to Psychopathy and Narcissism
France Arrests 10 on Suspicion of Failing to Respond in Time to Migrant Drowning
Neuralink Receives FDA Approval for First-in-Human Clinical Study
Is Saudi Arabia the holiest place in the world? Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions from "The Mount Sinai Stand" Discovered in Saudi Arabia
Ukrainian Intelligence Official Admits to Assassination Attempts on Putin
Bernard Arnault Loses $11.2 Billion in One Day as Investors Fear Slowdown in US Growth Will Reduce Demand for Luxury Products
Russian’s Wagner Group leader: “I am not a chef, I am a butcher. Russia is in danger of a revolution like in 1917.”
TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App
Ron DeSantis Jumps Into 2024 Presidential Race, Setting Up Showdown With Trump
Last Walmart in North Portland Closing Down
Florida's DeSantis seeks to disqualify judge in Disney case
Talks between US House Republicans and President Biden's Democratic administration on raising the federal government's $31.4tn debt ceiling have paused
Biden Administration Eyeing High-Profile Visits to China: The Biden Administration is heating things up by looking into setting up a series of top-level visits to Beijing by top officials in the coming months
New evidence in special counsel probe may undercut Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified
A French court of appeals confirmed former President Nicolas Sarkozy's three-year jail term for corruption and influence peddling
Debt Ceiling Crises Have Unleashed Political Chaos
Weibao Wang, a former software engineer at Apple, was charged with stealing trade secrets related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars
Mobile phone giant Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years as new boss says its performance not good enough
Elon Musk compares George Soros to Magneto, the supervillain from the Marvel Comics series.
Warren Buffett Sells TSMC Shares Over Concerns About Taiwan's Stability
New Study Finds That Secondary Bacterial Pneumonia Is a Major Cause of Death in COVID-19 Patients Who Require Ventilator Assistance
The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines calls the British monarchy "an absurdity" he wants to remove in his lifetime
King Charles III being crowned.
'Godfather Of AI' Geoffrey Hinton Quits Google To Warn Of The Tech's Dangers
A Real woman
Vermont Man Charged with Stalking After Secretly Tracking Woman with Apple AirTag
Elon Musk Statements About Tesla Autopilot Could Be 'Deepfakes,' Lawyers Claim. Judge Evette Pennypacker Does Not Understand How Far and Advanced This Technology Became
Ukraine More Prepared for Counterattack as Reinforcements Arrive
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Discuss Migration, Defence, and Ukraine
AT&T's Successful Test of Satellite-Based Phone Call Raises Possibility of Widespread Coverage
CNN: "Joe Biden is asking for four more years — when 74% of Americans think the country is heading the wrong way“
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Cuts Short Live TV Interview Due to Health Issue
US Congresswoman threaten Twitter Files journalist with arrest
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh slams New York Times' pro-government stance and treatment of sources
Enough is enough: it's time to end the war in Ukraine. While Russia may be to blame for starting it, Russia is not the one refusing to stop it
Fox News Settles their case with Dominion Voting Systems for a staggering $787.5 MILLION
AG decries scapegoating and rushed lawmaking by government
The land of the free violence
×