Stephen spoke in the House of Commons on Monday 17 May and pressed the Government to include protection against harmful scams in the Online Safety Bill.
A new version of the Online Safety Bill was introduced in the Queen’s Speech on 11 May. Whilst the Bill seeks to combat online fraud through user-generated content, it does not address scams through advertising, emails or cloned websites. This includes ads on Google or social media, such as fake investment opportunities.
In the debate, Stephen raised the case of a recently bereaved woman, who was scammed out of £200,000 after finding a fake site on Google in September. Google had been alerted of the fake site the previous May, but failed to remove it. The omission of legislation against online investment fraud in the Online Safety Bill means that cases like this are likely to reoccur.
Stephen said, “in letting crooks and scammers continue to ruin people’s lives, Ministers are being abjectly soft on this appalling crime. They could still do the right thing and legislate in this Bill. I urge them to do so.”