ONLINE HARMS BILL MUST GO FURTHER TO TACKLE CYBER FRAUD

In a debate on cyber fraud, I called for the Online Harms Bill to go further to ensure that consumers are protected online. Nearly 2 million people fell victim to online scams in the six months after lockdown measures began in March 2020, with our growing reliance on technology during the pandemic heightening our risk of falling prey to cyber-crime.

Such scams have more than just a financial impact on their victims, they also have serious impacts on the health and confidence of those who are targeted. The elderly and those living with mental health challenges are most at risk of being targeted by cyber-scams, and it is vital that we provide the education to the public on how to spot and report scams, while ensuring that authorities are properly resourced to tackle this issue.

Unfortunately, the Online Harms Bill does not go far enough to tackle this issue, as it will not seek to address fraud via advertising, emails or cloned websites, methods regularly used by scammers to con people out of their money. This Bill presents a real opportunity to protect consumers from online scams. the UK Government must go further to ensure that it provides greater protection.

Watch my speech below.