Dr Neil Hudson MP secures confirmation in Parliament from the Solicitor General on what the Conservative Government is doing to those immoral fraudsters and scammers that prey on the elderly and vulnerable.
Speaking afterwards, Dr Neil Hudson MP said:
"Sadly thousands of scams and fraud cases are reported across the nation every month. As such, I feel it is important to consistently raise awareness of the issue either in Parliament or throughout my constituency.
"It is often the most vulnerable in society who are targeted and I am really pleased that the Solicitor General reaffirmed his commitment to tackling these immoral criminals with the full force of the law."
Around 40% of all crime in England and Wales is fraud. During 2022, UK Finance cited 117,000 reported fraud cases associated with online shopping - totalling losses of £67 million.
Unfortunately, the most vulnerable in society are routinely targeted by these criminals, so Dr Hudson was keen to shine a light on this grim practice in order to raise awareness and help people protect themselves from these crimes.
In December, during the peak of Christmas shopping season, Dr Neil Hudson was keen to raise awareness among his constituents of the risks of online shopping. You can find that, along with a host of best practices to stay safe from scams, here: www.neilhudson.org.uk/news/dr-neil-hudson-mp-urges-constituents-stay-safe-scams-christmas
For more guidance, visit: www.gov.uk/report-suspicious-emails-websites-phishing
Dr Neil Hudson MP asked:
"In terms of fraud, every day older and vulnerable people are preyed upon by fraudsters and scammers, be it online, by phone or on doorstepping. Can my Honourable Friend reassure my constituents, the country, that the Conservative Government, the police and the criminal justice system will do all it can to bring these immoral criminals to justice?"
Solicitor General, Robert Courts MP, replied:
"Mr Speaker, yes I can. I mean, the Honourable Gentleman was quite right to draw attention to this. This is one of the great issues of our age as people who are taken advantage of. And it happens to all members of society, in fact, but particularly those, Mr Speaker, who are elderly and who are vulnerable. There is a number of sector charters under which work continues on this. This has been successful in bringing forward a number of positive outcomes. For example, 870 million scam texts have been blocked. We've taken forward work under the Online Safety Act as well. As well as the charters that I've referred to. But yes, I can assure the Honourable Gentleman we will continue to see what more can be done."
