Call for next government to appoint dedicated fraud minister

Which? is calling on the next Prime Minister to appoint a dedicated fraud minister to finally get a grip on fraud, as the consumer champion launches its agenda for Government.

Fraud continues to blight the lives of millions of consumers and accounts for around 40 per cent of crimes committed in England and Wales.Losses to fraud last year once again exceeded £1 billion – equivalent to £2,300 stolen every minute, according to figures from UK Finance.

The consumer champion’s many years of work campaigning for victims have demonstrated that the fight against fraud requires co-ordinated action across multiple government departments and business sectors.The next government must make fraud a national priority by appointing a fraud minister who can drive forward the urgent actions needed across government and business to finally turn the tide.

This means ensuring that tech giants, responsible for platforms that are frequently the linchpin of a fraudster’s journey, are held accountable by Ofcom for preventing fraudulent activity before it reaches consumers and if it slips through the net removing it swiftly. It also means that banks and payment providers ensure victims are treated fairly and promptly reimbursed.New duties, equivalent to existing obligations for banks and online platforms, should be placed on telecom providers, online advertisers and domain registrars to ensure they verify the legitimacy of users.

Which? says the fraud minister must also provide leadership in breaking down barriers to sharing fraud intelligence between companies in different sectors, law enforcement and government departments – a vital step towards shutting down scammers at the earliest opportunity.

Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy, said “The fraud epidemic continues to ruin people’s lives every year, yet progress with tackling it is too slow due to a lack of leadership and coordination across government and business sectors.

“The next government must show it will make tackling this terrible crime a national priority and appoint a fraud minister to bring sectors together and drive forward real change at pace. This will benefit UK citizens, businesses and growth.”