lans to crack down on scam adverts will not be “a panacea”, Martin Lewis has told MPs.
The consumer champion said the UK was still “a long way from seeing the back of scam adverts” despite plans to tackle the issue in the Government’s Online Safety Bill.
A campaign by Mr Lewis saw the Government update its draft of the Online Safety Bill in March 2022 to require online platforms to protect users from fraudulent, paid-for adverts.
Let me be plain as I’m giving evidence, I do not trust any of these companies to have the user and consumer interest at heart
But Mr Lewis told MPs discussing the Bill on Thursday that the success of new laws would depend on enforcement, describing the current enforcement of laws governing online content as “flaccid”.
He said: “There are many things that would improve that, certainly including far better resourcing for policing so people who do actually scam individuals at least get arrested and possibly even punished and sentenced for doing so, which of course doesn’t happen at the moment because scamming is a crime you can do with near impunity.”
Mr Lewis added that the Bill did nothing to tackle scam emails, which he said were “one of the biggest routes of scams”, and urged MPs not to rely on self-regulation to solve the problem.
He said: “Let me be plain as I’m giving evidence, I do not trust any of these companies to have the user and consumer interest at heart.
“When it comes to advertising, what they have at…
