A government taskforce has met to discuss ways to halt the massive increase in scam communications plaguing the British public since the start of the pandemic.

Banks, telecoms firms and consumers have met with UK Government Minister for Security Damien Hinds to discuss measures to tackle online fraud, as well as increase public awareness.

The government’s Joint Fraud Taskforce will run alongside new charters committing the sectors used by criminals to actions to protect people’s money, including ways to support fraud victims.

Priti Patel, the UK Home Secretary, has previously said that the country would “not tolerate criminals lining their pockets at the expense of law-abiding citizens”.

The taskforce has been formed after news of a huge rise in scams since the start of the pandemic last February.

Stats collected by Ofcom showed around 44.6m people received at least one scam communication in the last three months, while consumer group Which? found that the mental health toll of such communications is worth up to £9.3bn a year.

Scammers have become increasingly creative throughout the pandemic, capitalising on changing consumer habits as people move online for work and to shop.

Texts and emails purporting to be from courier firms and messages offering access to Covid vaccines and passports are some of the new ways that criminals have been trying to get hold of personal data.

In February, research conducted by major banking group Barclays, established that 2020 saw the highest number of scams on record, with the number of people scammed increasing by 66% in the second half of the year compared to the first half.

Barclays noted that, by value, the largest claims came from investment scams (29%) and impersonation scams (29%).

Commenting on the work of the taskforce, Carl Wearn, head of e-crime at Mimecast, said it was positive to see the government attempting to fight the growing problem of online scams.

“There are a range of actions that could be taken, and any success should be judged against actions taken. Cybercriminals are increasingly looking to take advantage of the trust people have in brands to trick them into sharing personal information,” Wearn said.

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Recent research from Mimecast’s recent Brand Trust report found that 43% of companies in the UK said the misuse of their brand in phishing emails increased over the last 12 months, with 19% of Brits saying they receive a phishing email every single day.

“This is a problem that isn’t going away and more needs to be done to prevent the public falling for these scams, with 24% of Brits surveyed thinking it is likely they will open a phishing email in the next 12 months,” he said.

Wearn added that brands must start doing more to prevent themselves from being exploited by scammers, “or risk losing customers”.

Mimecast research discovered that 73% of UK consumers believe it is the brand’s responsibility to protect itself from fake versions of its website, while around 62% said it’s the brand’s responsibility to protect itself from email impersonation.

“It is clear that consumers see it as the brand’s responsibility and are willing to vote with their wallets if they fall victim to a brand impersonation attack,” Wearn said.

“To prevent this, organisations can use technology such as Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC), which allows brands with an online presence to detect and reject any unauthorised sender who attempts to use a brand’s email domain.”

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