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OVER TWO THIRDS OF ALL APP SCAMS START ONLINE
UK Finance analysis of nearly seven thousand authorised push payment (APP) scam cases shows that 70 per cent of scams originated on an online platform ? highlighting the internet's significant role in enabling fraud. The new analysis comes as the government published the draft Online Safety Bill this week, to include user-generated content on social media and dating apps but not all economic crime.
With the Covid-19 pandemic accelerating consumers? shift online, fraudsters are adapting their tactics to exploit this societal change. The findings from the new UK Finance dip sample shows that most investment (96 per cent), romance (96 per cent) and nearly all purchase (98 per cent) scams originated online. As it stands, the draft Online Safety Bill will tackle fraudulent investment schemes posted by users on social media - but will not tackle the same scam when digitally advertised or set up through a cloned website.
David Postings, Chief Executive at UK Finance, said: ?As more of us have shifted online because of the pandemic, we've seen a spike in money mule activity and investment and purchase scams because criminals can target people directly in their homes across online platforms. The banking and finance industry is continuing to tackle fraud on all fronts, but there is a limit to what we can do alone.
?We were pleased to hear that the upcoming Online Safety Bill will tackle some aspects of fraud, but it won't protect people from fraudsters? online adverts and cloned websites. We encourage government to include all economic crime within the Bill when it is formally introduced. Not doing so leaves a large proportion of the public at high risk of being scammed online, because criminals are experts in adapting their tactics to exploit any loopholes.
?I welcome the recent steps taken by some online platforms to work with us on tackling this issue. This shows commitment and is evidence of the mergence of greater cross-sectoral collaboration to tackle the root causes of economic crime.?
SENIOR BANK OF ENGLAND FIGURES OUTLINE THE UK?S ECONOMIC RECOVERY
The governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, has predicted that a rise in inflation will be temporary. Speaking at an event organised by the Bank, Mr Bailey said that the recent sharp rise in US inflation gives cause to watch the UK's economic situation closely, but he projected that upwards price pressure will not persist (The Guardian). In February, the Bank of England had forecast that inflation would reach 1.9 per cent by the end of this year. The Bank has also previously forecast less upward pressure on inflation due to weakness in the job market which is expected to continue beyond the economy's recovery to pre-pandemic levels (City AM).
This comes as the Bank's chief economist, Andy Haldane, has projected that the UK economy will grow at its fastest rate since the Second World War and will outpace the US in doing so (BBC News). Mr Haldane pointed to a surge in consumer spending boosted by low Covid-19 infection rates and an effective vaccination programme. Writing in the Daily Mail, he commented: "A year from now, it is realistic to expect UK growth to be in double-digits, activity to be comfortably above pre-Covid levels and unemployment to be falling.?
NEWS IN BRIEF
The UK will use the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow this year to broker a deal to end international coal financing, Alok Sharma, the minister in charge of the conference, will say today (Reuters).
Levels of trust between the UK and European Union are low, according to Nick Collier, managing director of the City of London Corporation in Brussels, who has said that it is too late for a ?fish for finance deal? with the EU (City AM).
The Federation of Small Businesses, the CBI, and the British Chambers of Commerce are amongst business groups backing a new campaign to encourage the UK's largest companies to fast-track payments to small suppliers to help them recover from the pandemic (The Times, £).
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said there might be a role for a state-backed digital currency in Britain, although it would be ?a few years off at the moment? (Reuters).
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