In light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the rise in banking and online scams, the British government said Thursday, April 28, that it could seize cryptocurrencies to combat economic crime. The government proposed to tackle the rise in banking and online scams caused mainly by the closure of COVID-19 by imposing legislation to quickly recover cryptocurrencies used in criminal activities.
The government told parliament’s Treasury Select Committee,
” In particular, (we propose) the creation of a civil forfeiture power that would mitigate the risk posed by those who cannot be prosecuted but who use their funds to further criminality.”
However, the government’s proposal was held up by the parliamentary inquiry by lawmakers who wanted a single crime-solving agency. The lawmakers believe it is unnecessary to create another department to seize cryptocurrencies when there is already an agency to solve crimes.
The government responded to the parliamentary inquiry that the legislation is necessary so that economic crimes are solved in a timely manner and cryptocurrencies are seized and recovered more quickly. “It allows us to differentiate between different types of crime,” the government said. The government implied that with the variety of frauds in the public sector, a separate sector with a different approach is needed for cryptocurrency scams committed by individuals or companies.
The proposal remains on hold with the parliamentary inquiry’s recommendation to maintain a single body to deal with all forms of economic crime rather than enacting multiple bodies to deal with different types of crime. The government continues to impose that its recommendation for a multi-agency response to different scams is the correct approach.
Government seeks help from Facebook and Google
However, the government did not limit itself to recommending a multi-agency approach, but also recommended the help of online platforms such as Google and Facebook to deal with scams and fraudulent media activities. The government hopes to implement legislation against fraudulent advertising in these media. Although this legislation may take time to implement, it is time for online platforms to step forward to address these fraudulent activities. The first step is to remove any form of advertising or fraud and scams. Removing fraud and scam advertisements and promotions will reduce the exposure of malicious activities to people, thus curbing their occurrence.
Google has already reviewed its legacy financial promotions by taking and publishing financial promotions from companies certified by the Financial Conduct Authority, and companies have completed Google’s identity verification program. Advertisers must be verified by Google to display financial services ads of any kind in the U.K., including ads targeted to U.K. users who appear to be seeking financial services.
In 2019, following a lawsuit filed by Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, Facebook launched an anti-scam tool that will allow Facebook UK users to flag any ad on the medium that is alleged to be a scam or any get-rich-quick scheme. Facebook has also boosted an anti-scam initiative run by Citizens Advice, a financial charity, to set up a trained operational team to provide individual assistance to victims of online scams.
Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said:
“This project means we can support people who have been targeted by a scam and raise awareness of what to look out for to help prevent online scams in the first place.”
Although the research recommended that online platforms take full blame for any scams in their media, they take the blame while compensating scammed customers. The government is also not ruling out implementing this recommendation.
It said, “We are working closely with technology companies and partners in law enforcement and civil society to consider all possible options to support victims of online fraud and mitigate the harm they have experienced.”
