Commenting on the exclusion of scams and financial promotions from the Draft Online Safety Bill, Tommy Burns, Risk and Financial Crime Manager at Phoenix Group, said:
"While we recognise the steps that government are taking, we are disappointed not to see the issue of online scams being included in this Bill and we don't want this to be a wasted opportunity. Fraudulent activity has been rife in the last year, and younger generations have suffered too, with almost three in ten (29%) 18-34 year olds falling victim to a scam causing them to lose money or have their personal details compromised. This is an evolving threat that the government needs to keep pave with, and fraudsters have increasingly seized the opporunity to targeet victims on search engines and social media, developing new techniques that suit these platforms such as fake promotions and products.
"With an increasing number of people looking for financial information on search engines, and social media platforms, it's really important that these companies provide a safe and secure environment for users, and that information and adverts are verified and credible.
"Given this Bill is in draft form which will undergo further consultation before being introduced, we would urge the Government to reconsider including scams as part of it. It would be a vitally important development to protect consumers."
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Sarah Muir
Lansons
0787 097 537
Daniel White
Phoenix Group
0797 195 2921
daniel.white@thephoenixgroup.com
1 - Opinium carried out an online survey of 2,001 UK adults aged 18+ from 13th-16th April 2021. Results have weighted to representative criteria.
About Phoenix Group
Phoenix Group is the UK’s largest long-term savings and retirement business with c.14 million customers and £338 billion of assets under administration across both our Heritage and Open businesses. Our Heritage business, where we are the market-leader, is focused on the safe and efficient management of insurance policies.
The Heritage business comprises products that are no longer actively marketed to customers, and where we have stepped in as the custodian of these policies. We have built this business through the consolidation of over 100 legacy insurance brands.
Our Open business comprises products that are actively marketed to new and existing customers and has five separate business units. Our Workplace pensions and Customer Savings & Investments (“CS&I”) units operate under the Standard Life brand and manufacture long-term savings and retirement products to support people saving for their future.
The Retirement Solutions unit within Open includes both vesting annuities and our Bulk Purchase Annuity (“BPA”) business, where we acquire annuities and deliver the financial stability required to secure pensions currently provided by corporates.
The Open business comprises our market leading brand – “SunLife” – which sells a range of financial products specifically for the over 50s market and our European business unit which spans Ireland, Germany and the International Bond segment in the UK and operates under the Standard Life brand.