“Educating consumers is not the only solution” – Which? response to Cifas’ report on fraud trends

Alex Neill, Which? Managing Director of Home Products & Services, said:

“Educating consumers is not the only solution. There’s only so much people can do to protect themselves as sophisticated fraudsters are constantly finding new tactics to persuade them to part with their money.

“Banks and businesses should be doing more to identify potential scams, and ensure that their security systems are being improved to prevent fraud taking place.

“The next Government needs to commit to an ambitious agenda for tackling fraud, with action to improve how customer data is kept safe and ensure that financial institutions do more to protect consumers from scams.”

Notes to editors:

• On 23rd September 2016, Which? used its legal powers to make a super-complaint to the Payment Systems Regulator and alerted the Financial Conduct Authority on bank transfer scams. The regulator responded on the 16th December 2016.
• Which? launched its scams reporting tool on in November 2016. More than 650 people shared their experience with Which? about losing over £5.5 million to bank transfer scams.https://prod-wordpress-press.internal.which.co.uk/whichpressreleases/which-reveals-potential-scale-of-bank-transfer-scams/
• Which?’s ‘Consumer Agenda for Government’ was published on Saturday 29th April and can be viewed by visiting www.which.co.uk/consumeragenda
• Which? is encouraging people to sign it’s Safeguard us from Scams campaign, which has had more than 270,000 signatures to date

Statement