British tabloid the Daily Mail has called for the appointment of a “minister of fraud” in the U.K. after an investigation by the publication that found fraud losses by consumers in the country have reached £3 billion ($3.67 billion). On a per-capita basis, fraud losses in the U.K. (£36 per person per year) exceeded those in the U.S., Canada and Australia.
Fraud has become such a problem in the U.K. that the Daily Mail has demanded police make investigating fraud and catching the perpetrators a priority for law enforcement. It has also called for banks to reimburse fraud victims and that stronger protections for vulnerable customers be introduced.
“Criminals impersonated a range of organizations such as the NHS, banks and government departments via phone calls, text messages, emails, fake websites and social media posts to trick people into handing over their personal and financial information,” according to UK Finance. “They used this information to convince people into authorizing a payment.”
