The UK government has launched a new strategy to combat financial fraud, which according to the National Crime Agency, cost the country approximately £7 billion ($8.7 billion) per year. The strategy includes plans to ban cold calls that promote financial products such as insurance and cryptocurrencies.
Bloomberg reported that the British government is also working with telecoms regulator Ofcom to introduce new technology to prevent phone number “spoofing” by fraudsters. The report also revealed that the government is creating 400 new jobs to enhance intelligence-led policing tactics.
Fraud has become the most widespread crime in the UK, affecting one in every 15 people, according to Bloomberg. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Observer, among other media organizations, published a report on January 29, 2023, suggesting that criminal groups utilize the UK as their operating headquarters due to the country’s relaxed regulations.
UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, stated that scammers “ruin lives in seconds” and that the government will “take the fight to these fraudsters, wherever they try to hide.“
The UK government plans to enact legislation requiring financial institutions to compensate victims of authorized fraud, increasing the number of victims who receive their money back. The government also aims to eradicate the use of techniques frequently employed by scammers to reach large numbers of people, such as SIM farms and mass-texting services.
The UK government’s new strategy to combat fraud is a step towards addressing the issue, but it remains to be seen how effective it will be in practice.
Meanwhile, in April 2023, the UK announced a £100 million ($124.8 million) initial investment to establish a joint task force between the government and industry to develop artificial intelligence (AI). The task force’s objective is to create secure and dependable foundational models to safeguard the UK’s sovereign capabilities, promote extensive adoption, and establish the UK as a science and technology superpower by 2030.
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