Government unveils £4.5m online fraud crackdown

Online scams threaten to dent consumer confidence in e-commerce

The government has announced a £4.5m investment to equip the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and Trading Standards with the teams, training and technology needed to combat online scams.

Recent OFT research found that scams cost three million UK consumers over £3bn a year, and that three quarters of the population have been sent an email scam in the past year.

The new funding will be spread over the next three years, and will be used to target ticket scams and fraudulent web sites, among other criminal operations.

"Online consumer protection is a key priority for the OFT," said Heather Clayton, senior director of OFT.

"The enforcement team will be looking at the activities of a wide range of commercial web sites, and taking action in cases where consumer rights are being abused."

Trading Standards chief executive Ron Gainsford added that improving confidence in e-commerce across EU borders will be of real benefit to consumers and businesses.

"These specialist teams will help us be a modern regulatory service that can handle the increasingly complex threats and demands of the online market, which is fundamental to consumer and business protection, and renewed prosperity," he said.

However, Mel Morris, chief executive at security vendor Prevx, warned that online fraud is not simply about counterfeit tickets and fake products.

"People are also worried about threats such as identity fraud, which can result in vast sums of money being stolen from bank accounts or through credit card transactions," he said.

"In this instance, the onus is very much on businesses and consumers taking action to protect themselves. Here the goal should be to cut these scams off at the source, meaning that the second someone goes online they are protected against an attack."