Leading the Charge Against Fraud: techUK Works to Deliver New Online Fraud Tech Charter
Over the last six months techUK has been working with techUK members and the Government on a new Online Fraud Charter which was finally signed yesterday. The Charter, is a ground-breaking initiative setting out commitments from techUK members including: Amazon, eBay, Google, Linkedin, Match Group, Meta, Tiktok and X, that was developed in collaboration with the Home Office and No.10 Downing Street.
techUK led the industry’s work, as the representative of the sector, in developing the charter. We negotiated closely with the Prime Minister’s Anti-Fraud Champion Anthony Browne MP and the Home Office to deliver a Charter that collaboratively tackles fraud. After six months of detailed discussions, the Charter was officially signed at Lancaster House yesterday, at a ceremony led by the Home Secretary James Cleverley MP.
The charter, which is a voluntary commitment, is an important step forward from the commitment first made in the Fraud Strategy published earlier in the year. It unites techUK members with the Government, to clamp down on fraud taking place online. signals a collective effort to implement comprehensive measures tailored to the respective services over the next six months.
With fraud being the most common crime in the UK, techUK members have been proactively working to address this issue. The Charter signals closer working between the industry, government and law enforcement. In addition to clamping down on scam posts, members have also committed to working more closely with law enforcement in their efforts to target fraudsters. Charter signatories will run direct routes for law enforcement to report suspicious activity, making it easier to quickly identify and remove fraudulent content and protect users.
Members have also agreed to continue expanding measures to help protect people from fraud and scam content when using their sites. Actions include verifying new advertisers, blocking fraudulent material and horizon scanning on evolving fraud threats. The Charter also highlights increased levels of verification on peer-to-peer marketplaces, as well as people using online dating services having the opportunity to prove they are who they say they are.
The Charter has brought about commitments in a total of nine different areas, to continue comprehensively tackling fraud. These are:
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Blocking- Deploying measures to detect and block fraudulent material
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Reporting- Having a simple and quick route to report fraudulent material
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Takedowns- Taking action against fraudulent content and users straight away
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Advertising- Deploying measures to protect people from fraudulent adverts
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Law Enforcement- Having dedicated liaisons who will respond to law enforcement requests
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Intelligence Sharing- Engaging with initiatives to quickly share information about frauds
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Transparency- Providing information about fraud risks and what is being done to address them
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Comms- Delivering simple messaging to support the public to recognise and avoid online fraud
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Horizon Scanning- Contributing to horizon scanning exercises to stay ahead of the threat
On signing the Charter, techUK’s Deputy CEO Antony Walker said “We are pleased to have worked at pace with the government in the development of the Online Fraud Charter which will improve the coordination of actions by tech firms to tackle online fraud.
“The Charter builds on measures that tech firms already have in place to defend against online fraud and will enable better and more consistent cooperation between the private sector, government and law enforcement.
“The nature of online fraud is constantly evolving and tech companies are continually adapting and improving their approaches to combat this criminal activity.”
The Tech Charter follows a stream of work techUK and our members are already undertaking to tackle fraud. techUK has been co-chairing the Online Fraud Group, alongside UK Finance and NECC for over two years, which has seen actions such as the FCA authorisation process and the Take five campaign.
To find out more about techUK’s work on fraud and economic crime, see here: https://www.techuk.org/resource/online-fraud-steering-group-techuk-uk-finance-the-necc-collective-efforts-to-combat-fraud.html
To get involved in techUK’s members Online Fraud Working Group, see here: https://www.techuk.org/resource/join-the-new-techuk-fraud-working-group.html
Javahir Askari
Javahir Askari
Javahir joined techUK in June 2022, as Policy Manager for Digital Regulation.
Prior to joining techUK, she worked at the New Statesman, delivering cross sector policy research and events for their policy supplement. Javahir previously worked as part of the educational programme at the European Commission based in London, engaging with the UK's youth on the Brexit process.
Javahir holds a BA Politics and International Relations (Hons) from the University of Nottingham, an MA Human Rights from University College London, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Law from BPP University.
Antony Walker
Antony Walker
Antony Walker is deputy CEO of techUK, which he played a lead role in launching in November 2013.
Antony is a member of the senior leadership team and has overall responsibility for techUK’s policy work. Prior to his appointment in July 2012 Antony was chief executive of the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG), the UK’s independent advisory group on broadband policy. Antony was closely involved in the development of broadband policy development in the UK since the BSG was established in 2001 and authored several major reports to government. He also led the development of the UK’s world leading Open Internet Code of Practice that addresses the issue of net neutrality in the UK. Prior to setting up the BSG, Antony spent six years working in Brussels for the American Chamber of Commerce following and writing about telecoms issues and as a consultant working on EU social affairs and environmental issues. Antony is a graduate of Aberdeen University and KU Leuven and is also a Policy Fellow Alumni of the Centre for Science and Policy at Cambridge University.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Phone:
- 07780603065
- Twitter:
- @techUKdepCEO
- Website:
- www.techuk.org/
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonywalker/
Neil Ross
Neil Ross
As Associate Director for Policy Neil leads on techUK's public policy work in the UK. In this role he regularly engages with UK and Devolved Government Ministers, senior civil servants and members of the UK’s Parliaments aiming to make the UK the best place to start, scale and develop a tech business.
Neil joined techUK in 2019 to lead on techUK’s input into the UK-EU Brexit trade deal negotiations and economic policy. Alongside his role leading techUK's public policy work Neil also acts as a spokesperson for techUK often appearing in the media and providing evidence to a range of Parliamentary committees.
In 2023 Neil was listed by the Politico newspaper as one of the '20 people who matter in UK tech' and has regularly been cited as a key industry figure shaping UK tech policy.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Twitter:
- @neil13r
- Website:
- www.techuk.org/
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilross13/