World's 1st Global Fraud Summit

This week the UK Government is hosting the world's first Global Fraud summit, why is this good news for us?

Princess Anne at the worlds 1st global fraud summit

Fraud is a global problem, with around 70% of all offences in the UK having ties to overseas criminals, with £3 billion lost to overseas accounts last year. A united global community is needed to help reverse this trend. If you've ever been a victim of a scam or concerned that you or your loved ones might be this can only be good news.

This first Global Fraud Summit, hosted by the Home Secretary, in London this week, includes Ministers from the G7, Five Eyes, Singapore and South Korea attendance.

Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said:

Fraud ruins lives. Con artists and thieves are a threat to hard-working families across the country.

Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock said:

Changes in technology and the rapid increase in the scale and volume of organized crime has driven the creation of a range of new ways to defraud innocent people, business and even governments. Urgent action is required.

It is important that there are no safe havens for financial fraudsters to operate. We must close existing gaps and ensure information sharing between sectors and across borders is the norm, not the exception. This summit is both timely, and needed.

A key aim of the summit is to increase partnership work between law enforcement agencies, such as the National Crime Agency, the FBI, Interpol, Europol and the Japan National Police Agency. Sharing more intelligence, expertise and resources will help turn the tide against fraudsters

Ministers will explore how closer partnerships with the private sector can be used to counter criminality and reimburse victims of crime

Senior leaders from the world’s biggest companies will also be in attendance, to explore further ways of collaboration with the private sector

The summit will encourage greater collaboration between government and industry to tackle fraud

The UK will also raise the prospect of creating a mechanism to repatriate funds that are lost overseas due to fraud

It is anticipated all attending nations will agree a communique, pledging more combined action to fight fraud

We watch with interest to see the outcomes of this important event

Update:

Tech companies including Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn also attended the first summit of its kind, alongside banks HSBC, NatWest, Santander, and other financial organisations including Visa.

Leaders said social media companies and other online forums are expected to take further action to prevent fraud, including identifying and removing fraudulent posts, the Home Office said.