Big Tech companies pledge $1m to support UK anti-fraud campaign

By Gaia Lamperti

Major technology companies, such as Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Amazon, Microsoft, and TikTok have pledged to support Take Five to Stop Fraud, the anti-fraud campaign run by UK Finance, the collective voice for the banking and finance industry in the country, representing more than 250 firms across the industry.

The Big Tech companies will collectively donate $1million worth of advertising to the campaign helping to publicise the Take Five to Stop Fraud advice to consumers, facilitating a wider reach to a significant proportion of the online population with these important messages.

Fraud poses a major threat to the UK and criminals are continuing to find new ways to target people with online scams. “Tackling fraud is an absolute priority for the banking and finance industry, but it’s one that requires work across different sectors of the economy,” David Postings, Chief Executive of UK Finance, commented. “We are delighted that these major technology companies have agreed to support the work of Take Five as part of our collaborative approach to tackling fraud. The advertising that is being provided will enable Take Five to reach a wider audience and is an important step in our efforts to help consumers stay protected from fraud and scams.”

The UK Finance-led anti-fraud campaign builds on years of investment and activity to tackle cyber threats including online fraud and is delivered through a range of partners in the UK payments industry, financial services firms, law enforcement agencies, telecommunication providers, commercial, public, and third sector organisations. But tackling fraud and ensuring customer safety is a major ongoing priority for tech companies too, which are supporting the campaign by also making use of the Take Five content in their own anti-fraud communications.

This pledge of support flows from the work of a recently established Online Fraud Steering Group, which brings together representatives from the technology and banking industries and law enforcement to work together to tackle fraud and increasing consumer awareness about the types of fraudulent activity online is an important part of this collaboration.

“The support by major tech companies for the Take Five campaign is part of a collaborative and innovative whole-system approach to tackling online fraud. This pledge of support will help the Take Five campaign reach an even wider audience and ensure consistency of messaging across the technology, banking, and finance industries,” said Julian David, CEO of techUK, a trade association bringing together people, companies and organisations to realise the positive outcomes of digital technology advancements.

The announcement coincides with Take Five Week, a week dedicated to highlighting the work of the campaign that offers straightforward and impartial advice to help everyone protect themselves from preventable financial fraud.

The initiative suggests some basic measures before initiating any transaction online:

• Stop: Taking a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information could keep you safe.
• Challenge: Could it be fake? It’s ok to reject, refuse, or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.
• Protect: Contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve fallen for a scam and report it to Action Fraud.