Good morning, (only just) soon to be afternoon. This is Martin Lewis talking about online scams. He has been trying to convince the Government to include this in the Online Harms Bill, but to no avail, they won't listen to him.
Martin has been fighting scams for four and a half years ever since his own photograph has been used by scammers to fleece people of their life savings. Listen and watch his passion in this video.
What struck me when listening to this was the obvious parallels between the sophistication of scammers who use technology to reel their victims in, and the techniques used by Governments around the world in order to achieve the same level of compliance.
Scammers choose people who trust them. They gain trust by lying to their victims. Martin says, every day there are vulnerable people having their lives destroyed. That rings a bell with me. Jobs lost, businesses destroyed, and suicides. All part of being scammed.
Fraud is the biggest single crime in the country. Yes, that resonates with me. Martin was asked what is causing this rise in scamming. His reply was that Government won't upset Big Tech. And I say, a good answer. That's why they refuse to be drawn into it.
Now it's 12 noon and I am going to go out into the sunshine. Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon. ilona
I really feel for MSE Martin, how awful to know people are using your good name and even your face to destroy others. He has every right to be angry x
ReplyDeleteHe has been trying to get Big Tech to be responsible for policing their own platforms for a long time. They don't want to know because every advert brings them big money. Now the Government are not prepared to include scam online adverts in their latest bill going through Parliament. He is feeling defeated.
DeleteSo pleased to hear Martin received a £3 million out of court settlement from Facebook. Let's hope the Rohingya people succeed in suing Facebook for £150 billion. Sadly, no amount of money will bring back lives lost due to Facebook's self-admitted wrongdoing. I hope these are signs that Big Tech is going to be made to behave more responsibly. Not holding my breath though.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Big Tech will do anything to help matters. They like the money rolling in.
DeleteSo true ilona.. and it can happen to anyone especially older folk giving bank details thinking its there bank😔,, Just be careful thats all ...
ReplyDeletei like Martin Lewis he speaks the truth and knows everything financial 👍✅..
All Best wishes ilona Levi xxx
Martin is a kind and caring man. He works his socks off for the good of the people. He doesn't have to, he is wealthy enough to never work again.
DeleteI get loads of scam calls and I keep them on the line as long as possible.Making out that I am believing all the crap they are telling me...that Ive won a holiday anywhere in the world for all my family..Ive won £50 of Tesco vouchers...that I need to pay my insurance on my fridge,washing machine..lol,,the list goes on.I take great delight,when they come to the part,that they need my bank details,then telling them just what evil people they are,lol.Some have been really nasty to me,telling me that I have wasted their time.Good!!.Because while I keep them talking,pretending to be taking in all their crap,they are missing out on phoning some one who just might believe them.xx
ReplyDeleteYou have more patience than me. As soon as I hear background noise and a foreign accent, I put the phone down.
DeleteMy friend's uncle received a call from someone that said he was from the fraud squad and that there had been wrong doings in the bank that the uncle used. The person asked the uncle how much money he had in the bank. He then asked him to go to the bank and draw it all out straight away, but to make up something to the bank as to why he was doing so in order to avoid alerting the wrong doer in the bank. He received anoher call later and was told that a courier would come and collect the cash and it would be back by 5.00pm at the latest. Whilst on the phone, the fraudster asked if he had any jewellery and expensive electronics and to put these in the bag with the money. A motorcycle courier (another member of the gang) came and collected the bag, which obviously never came back. I know that this all sounds ridiculous to most of us, but they pick on the elderly and vulnerable and they are obviously very skilful and experienced in these scams. I have no idea how they sleep at night.
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