£5m crackdown as Cleverly hails Mail for tackling scams

Home Secretary James Cleverly praised the mail last night for taking on the growing scourge of scams as the Government unveils a £5million crackdown.

He said the new scheme would escalate the war on fraud, cut out the current mixed messages and protect the public.

money mail’s Stop the Social media Scammers campaign has called on Prime minister Rishi Sunak to protect millions of online users from fraudsters.

Setting out the Government’s campaign, mr Cleverly said: ‘The Daily mail has done a fantastic job in raising awareness of the heartbreaking impact fraud has had.

‘The Government has taken action that has already cut fraud by 13 per cent in england and Wales. We are going one step further.’ The Stop! Think Fraud campaign, which is launched today, is expected to reach 95 per cent of adults within weeks through television and radio adverts, billboards, banks and other financial institutions.

Until now, the police, banks, insurers and fraud charities have had their own strategies. officials admit this caused confusion about what to do when people are hoodwinked by scammers.

Last may, the official Fraud Strategy warned: ‘People do not always protect themselves and reporting rates remain low.’

But government departments and police forces must now unite behind ‘clear, technically accurate and timely messaging’ about how people can protect themselves from scams and report incidents.

Fraud accounts for around 40 per cent of all crime in england and Wales, with an estimated 3.2million offences each year, at a cost of £6.8billion to society.

Security minister Tom Tugendhat said: ‘Fraud ruins lives. Following this advice will give people the best tips to stop fraudsters stealing their hard-earned cash.’

Firms such as Barclays, TSB, Santander, Lloyds, meta, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, BT, Virgin media o2 and TalkTalk have backed the scheme. Simon miller, of the campaign Stop Scams UK, said: ‘This is a really important step in the right direction.’

The website gov.uk/stopthinkfraud has been set up to direct victims to relevant organisations for further advice and support.