Martin Lewis reacts to proposed new fraud-fighting rules announced by Ofcom

Under proposed new fraud-fighting rules announced today by Ofcom, Big Tech will be held accountable for tackling scam ads on its platforms.

Responding to the announcement, Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert, whose face and name are used in 44% of all scam ads, according to Thames Valley Police, said: "It is definitely far too late, and the jury is out on whether it’s too little. For too long advertising online has been a Wild West. The only way for people to be safe right now is to assume every ad is a scam unless you can manifestly prove otherwise. It’s a terrible state of affairs.

"The criminals behind scams can act with impunity. Big tech turns a blind eye as it seemingly makes billions from those scammers, carefree about the financial lives they destroy and the serious consequences for people’s mental health. This needs to stop.

"It isn’t new. Back in 2018 I sued Facebook. Then we lobbied to get scam ads in the Online Safety Act. That was accepted in 2022. It became law in 2023, but we were told we’d need to wait until 2025 for the consultation to be published.

"Delay after delay means it’s only launching now, but implementation - even if it doesn’t get shredded by big tech lawyers - is at least a year away.

"And these rules only cover the very largest social media platforms and search services. That leaves gaping holes for the scammers to exploit, from apps and games to content-recommendation ads at the bottom of millions of websites. Yet while I’m frustrated at the political sloth and limitations, this is still a step forward. Most of what Ofcom has put out today looks good at a cursory glance, and I hope it will lead to improvements. Yet far more is needed, including expanding the range of firms it can police."

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