Cold Calling to be Banned Under Government Plan to Target Scammers

Cold calls offering financial products will be banned under government plans aimed at stopping fraudsters from tricking people into buying fake investments.

Rishi Sunak said the move was needed to “prevent fraudsters from infiltrating their way into people’s lives”.

The aim is to extend a current ban on cold calls relating to pension products to cover calls selling any financial product.

Mr Sunak said: “Scammers devastate lives and livelihoods, preying on people’s fears to cheat them out of their money.

“To clamp down on these crimes, we have to prevent fraudsters from infiltrating their way into people’s lives in the first place.

“That’s why we’re stopping scams at source by taking away the routes used to target victims, keeping people safe and shielding them from the criminals responsible.”

Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, said: “Fraudsters are the lowest of the low.

“They seek to rob people of their hard-earned money through deception and exploitation, and relentlessly search for new ways to trick people.

“Banning cold calls and stopping fraudsters using technology is the start in our fightback against these cowards who hide in the shadows.”

Ministers hope that, once in force, people receiving a call offering them these products – such as sham cryptocurrency schemes or types of insurance – will know that it must be a scam, helping to prevent people from falling victim to fraudsters.

The proposals will form part of a fraud strategy that will be outlined by Sunak and Braverman this week. It is estimated that fraud currently costs society £6.8 billion a year.

It comes after developments in modern technology have created new opportunities for criminals, who often pretend to be a loved one or a legitimate business to scam people out of their money.
Source: The Telegraph