Author: FVCA

The ASA respond to concerns and complaints from consumers and businesses and take action to ban ads which are misleading, harmful, offensive or irresponsible. As well as responding to complaints, they monitor ads to check they’re following the rules. They also conduct research to test public opinion and identify where they need to take action to protect consumers.

In 2019, they resolved 34,717 complaints relating to almost 25,000 ads.

Consumers can now report scam ads appearing in paid-for space online to the ASA. They will promptly send an alert to all participating platforms with key details of the scam ad, as well as to publishers when the ad appeared on a publisher owned site. If they locate them, partners will remove the offending ad and suspend the advertiser’s account. In some instances, they may also add them to ‘blocklists’, even when the ads weren’t appearing on their platform, stopping them from appearing in future.

Tackling online scam ads is a global problem, requiring a joined-up response involving law-enforcement bodies and statutory regulators, platforms and all involved in the online ad industry, as well as national advertising regulatory bodies such as the ASA. The Scam Ad Alert system coincides with the Consumer Protection Partnership’s Scams Awareness Campaign which this year focuses on COVID-19 related scams. Working with partners including National Trading Standards, Citizens Advice, Competition and Markets Authority and Trading Standards Scotland, we aim to reduce the risk and impact of scams by raising awareness amongst consumers and equipping them with the skills needed to recognise and report them.

ASA Chief Executive, Guy Parker said: “The overwhelming majority of ads responsibly inform and entertain their audience, but a small minority are published with criminal intent. Our Scam Ad Alert system will play an important part in helping detect and disrupt these types of scams. By working closely with our partners such as Google and Facebook, we can act quickly to have problem ads taken down as part of our ongoing work to better protect consumers online.”

If you see an advert online that doesn’t look or feel right, then you can now report this directly to the ASA online at www.asa.org.uk

As you may know, free TV Licences for all over 75s in the UK, funded by the Government, came to an end this year. From 1st August 2020, anyone aged 75 or over who is not in receipt of Pension Credit (a benefit available to pensioners on low incomes) needs to pay for their TV Licence.

The TV Licensing team are contacting everyone who needs to apply via post over the next couple of months. It’s important to check that the communication that you receive is genuine and here are some ways you can check:

• You will not be rushed into making payment; you have two months from the date of the letter to apply for your licence, anything telling you that it’s time critical will be a scam.
• The TV licencing team will never phone you just to ask for your bank or credit or debit card details.
• They will only email you in response to an email you’ve sent them, or if you’ve used their website to change your details (or buy a licence).

The website has much more of the information you need to protect yourself from fraud. You can find out more at www.tvl.co.uk/scams and if you’re unsure about any communication you’ve received from them, please call them on 0300 790 6151.

Action Fraud have seen a significant increase in romance fraud during 2020 compared with 2019. A romance fraud is when a criminal creates a fake profile on an online dating or social media platform and targets individuals in an attempt to gain their trust. This eventually leads to requests of money for medical bills, investments, legal fees, travel, or other reasons. The Coronavirus outbreak in the UK has led to more and more people trying to find love online. This is a great way of finding people to share experiences with, so we are spreading awareness of the potential dangers to keep an eye out for. If you are new to this type of social interaction, there are some standard checks and red flags that you should be aware with. 

Please share these with your family, friends and neighbours: 

• The person contacting you states that they have a career that they can’t talk much about and involves a large amount of travelling such as military, NATO, Greenpeace etc;
• The person will try and move you away from the dating or social media’s messaging service in order to execute their scam, such as WhatsApp or Google Hangouts;
• They claim to have poor internet in their location which can lead to them asking you for money as they can’t access online banking;
• Plans to meet you in person keep on getting postponed due to travel cancellations or work commitments (COVID-19 has played a huge part in forming a legitimate reason);
• They may have a too good to be true investment opportunity that needs to be invested in straight away in order to maximise returns and need you to move some money around for them. This can be backed up by false documents.

If you think that you have been contacted by someone like this, please report it directly to the website that you are using. If you think that you have been scammed by this type of fraud, report it straight to your bank and Action Fraud. These crimes not only cause financial loss but can have a devastating effect on the individual. The internet is a great tool during these strange times but please remain vigilant, if you see anything suspicious please talk to a someone you trust for help.