Scams

Scam ads are to be included in the Government's Online Safety Bill, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has announced. It's a win for campaigners, including MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) and its founder Martin Lewis, who had called to get fraudulent advertising included in the new rules.

A cross-party group of MPs has backed industry calls for the Government to include paid-for scam advertising in the forthcoming Online Safety Bill. In a report published today (2 February), the Treasury Committee urged the Government to "push harder and act faster on the growing fraud epidemic".

A grandfather of two, who was tricked out of £25,000 by fraudsters purporting to offer NHS Covid passes, has got his life savings back after MoneySavingExpert.com intervened. He's now warning others about the scam to make sure they don't get caught out.   

A cross-party group of MPs and Lords, whose parliamentary job has been to analyse the draft Online Safety Bill, have called for sweeping changes to "call time on the Wild West online" and include paid-for scam and fraudulent advertising within the Bill's remit.

The financial watchdog has released a Christmas jingle as part of an anti-fraud campaign, launched today (9 December), to try and better inform and protect consumers from financial fraud related to taking out loans, which it says are particularly rife over the Christmas period. 

The police have issued a warning for consumers to watch out for fake emails claiming to be from MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis and said that more than 300 people had reported receiving the scam email in the space of just one week.

Fourteen trusted household names, public figures and celebrities – Martin Lewis, Sir Richard Branson, Deborah Meaden, Duncan Bannatyne, Rob Brydon, Dawn French, Bear Grylls, Peter Jones, Lorraine Kelly, Davina McCall, Phillip Schofield, Bradley Walsh, Robbie Williams and Holly Willoughby – have signed an open letter to the Prime Minister calling for paid-for scam advertising to be urgently included in the upcoming Online Safety Bill.

New rules to help protect pension savers from scammers have today become law. Under the regulations, pension trustees and scheme managers will be given the power to stop suspicious transfers before cash gets into the hands of fraudsters.

"Legal advice" is the "only reason" the Government hasn't included protection against paid-for scam adverts in its upcoming Online Safety Bill, according to new comments made by secretary of state for digital Nadine Dorries. 

If you need to call your bank, just dial 159. That's the message MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis gave in the second episode of his new series of The Martin Lewis Money Show on ITV.