Consortium led by Which? calls on government to prioritise fraud by removing barriers to data sharing

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A Which?-led coalition representing the UK’s biggest banks and telecoms providers has made a groundbreaking data-sharing commitment and called on the new government to make tackling fraud a national priority.

The group, which includes Which?, Barclays, BT, Mobile UK, Nationwide, NatWest, Starling, Three UK, UK Finance, Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone, is calling on ministers to provide the leadership needed to ensure more firms can do better Sharing intelligence to detect fraud and protect your customers.

Sharing information about fraud is crucial to staying ahead of the organised crime groups that can ruin so many consumers’ lives. Fraud accounts for around 40 per cent of all crime in England and Wales, and figures from UK Finance revealed that criminals stole more than £1 billion through authorised and unauthorised fraud last year.

However, the group is concerned that individual companies, law enforcement agencies and the government are not working together enough to share information about how fraudsters can exploit vulnerabilities in their systems. This allows fraudsters to consistently use the same tactics across multiple channels.

The coalition believes that by sharing signs of fraud, businesses will have more information to help them recognize an attack before it happens, which will translate into better protection for customers.

The coalition calls on the new government to:

• It should be made clear that combating fraud is a national priority and is central to the wider crime strategy;

• Establishing central leadership that can coordinate initiatives across government to develop a common approach to combating fraud;

• Leading the Fraud Data Sharing Taskforce, which must consider the needs of different industry sectors and deliver technical solutions to create a data application that can be used to prevent fraud across digital channels in the UK.

Signatories are prepared to join a taskforce to share the data they collect and use data from other sectors to prevent fraud, which will benefit all UK consumers.

Rocio Concha, Director of Policy and Advocacy, Which? says:

“Fraud continues to devastate the lives of consumers across the country, causing devastating financial and emotional consequences.

“For a long time, the actors involved in the fight against this terrible crime have operated in isolated structures – so the commitment of banks and telecom providers to cooperate in sharing data is a significant step forward in the right direction.

“We call on the new government to make tackling fraud a national priority and ensure businesses can share data and best practice to strengthen their defences and ultimately keep their customers safe.”

August 1, 2024Chris’s Price

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