Which? response as £78m reported lost to ‘clone firm’ investment scams in 2020

Gareth Shaw, Which? Head of Money, said:

“People are losing life-changing sums of money every day to these highly sophisticated scams. They are being let down by tech firms that make it far too easy for fraudsters to hook in unsuspecting victims online and by the banks that leave their customers feeling abandoned when they refuse to reimburse them for devastating losses.

“The government must set out plans to hold the tech giants accountable for harmful scam content hosted on their platforms. It should also work with financial regulators to ensure the protections in the voluntary industry code on scams become mandatory and are strengthened, so that the vast majority of bank transfer scam victims know they will get their money back.”

Statement