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JEFF PRESTRIDGE: Tech giants must stop scams now - or fraud will blight lives like no other crime By Jeff Prestridge Published: 16:50 EDT, 15 August 2023 | Updated: 16:50 EDT, 15 August 2023 e-mail 6 shares 5 View comments Let's cut to the chase. Fraud is the scourge of our times, it’s out of control and it needs to be tackled as a matter of urgency. Money Mail’s brilliant investigation into the murky world of scams and fraud, published today, makes for shocking reading. It’s revelatory, providing overwhelming evidence that unless we take strong action NOW to nip fraud in the bud, it will blight our lives like no other crime. Left untamed, it will leave a trail of financial destruction in its wake while imperilling the health of our High Street banks. Of course, fraud is not a violent crime like burglary or robbery often is. But that’s no excuse for being soft on it. Often, its impact can be ruinous, leading to acute financial difficulties, mental health issues and the breaking up of relationships. In a nutshell, we must not allow its tentacles to spread any further. We must starve it of oxygen. Online predators: Left untamed, online fraud will leave a trail of financial destruction in its wake while imperilling the health of our High Street banks As Money Mail’s probe highlights, it is time for the social media platforms operating in this country to step up to the plate. By platforms, I mean the X’s (Twitter as was) and, in particular, the Facebooks, WhatsApps and Instagrams of this world. Between them, they are providing a breeding ground for criminals to thrive and defraud tens of thousands of people out of their hard-earned money every week. They are presiding over a 21st-century version of the Wild West — where lawlessness is very much the order of the day. It simply cannot be right — as we point out today — that scams committed via social media platforms owned by Meta (Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram) made up 16 pc of all crimes recorded by UK police in 2022. This astonishing figure means more crime now originates via Meta than that reported for instances of robbery, burglary, homicide and knife violence combined. An epidemic of biblical proportions. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next SALLY SORTS IT: Help! My friend lost £180,000 to Bitcoin... I clicked on one link and crooks snuck into my bank... How to spot a social media scam: The five warning signs you... How social media scams claim more victims than robbery,... Share this article Share HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP How to choose the best (and cheapest) stocks and shares Isa and the right DIY investing account It is obvious that this cannot be allowed to go on — but it will only be checked if the owners of social media platforms are held accountable for the crime they currently turn a blind eye to, leaving the public and the banks to take the financial hit. In other words, they need to have skin in the game. This lies at the heart of our Stop The Social Media Scammers campaign that we launch today in the hope of tackling this wicked crime head on. Among the many actions we are demanding is for social media companies to pay towards the cost of reimbursing victims who lose money as a result of a fraud originating on their platforms. As well as spreading the cost of fraud more fairly across consumers, the banks and these platforms, it would incentivise these companies to clean up their sites and deter fraudsters. Alongside this measure, which would require legislation, Money Mail believes that the country’s financial regulator should be allowed to mete out hefty fines to those companies which do not do enough to weed out the conmen. Social media is here to stay. In many ways, it’s intoxicating, liberating and exciting — a tool used by the elderly and the young. But it cannot continue to be used as a catalyst for an avalanche of scams and frauds. As anti-fraud ‘champion’ Anthony Browne says today, it is time for the tech firms to ‘step up and protect their users’. Stop The Social Media Scammers now! DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS Stocks & shares Isa Stocks & shares Isa Easy investing Capital at risk. Isa rules & T&Cs apply. Investment ideas Free fund dealing Free fund dealing 0.45% account fee capped for shares Flat-fee investing No fees £9.99 monthly fee One free £5.99 trade per month Social investing Social investing Share investing 30+ million global community Model portfolios Investment account Free fund dealing Free financial coaching Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. This does not affect our editorial independence. > Compare the best investing platform for you Share or comment on this article: JEFF PRESTRIDGE: Tech giants must stop scams now - or fraud will blight lives like no other crime e-mail 6 shares Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence. 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