I never thought I’d see former professional footballers march through central London to protest about financial scams and poor regulation but that’s exactly what happened this week.
Many of the footballers made videos this week to talk about how they and family members had been scammed and cheated.
It’s a reminder that victims of financial crime are not just those at the bottom of the income heap but come from every part of the population.
The aim of the campaign was to highlight how financial misconduct affects people from all walks of life including sports professionals who are often targeted due to their high profiles and substantial earnings.
Others marching included military veterans, pension savers, former police officers, tax officers, professional advisers and parliamentarians, all calling for “justice and reform.”
The next victim of the financial criminals and scammers could literally be anyone and it was good to see this march highlighting that scams can and do affect everyone.
Of course, we know the issues but the question the Transparency Task Force wants to raise is: what is anyone doing? The Task Force believes the government, the FCA and others in authority are doing far too little and making it too easy for the scammers and fraudsters to ruin lives.
In truth, there is plenty being down although it’s still not enough. The banks, as we all know, have hugely tightened up their anti-fraud measures. You will struggle to make a significant financial transaction online these days without going through multiple security hoops. Money laundering rules affect nearly everyone and so on.
And the FCA has doubled and redoubled its efforts. The police, too, have cracked a number of fraud rings and scams. This week they took down a major fraudsters’ website called Labhost, a move that resulted in international co-ordinated action and 37 people worldwide being arrested. The site was a significant provider of stolen personal account details and PIN numbers.
And yet it’s not enough. Fraud is now the number one crime in the UK but its priority in government is still low and it does not attract anything like the coverage it should.
The Task Force is right to keep up the pressure because ultimately only more resource and greater awareness of the risks will make a difference.
Tackling fraud will ultimately improve the reputation of the financial services sector. I strongly suspect the number and scale of frauds and scams, often lumped together by the public, is doing nothing but harming the reputation of the financial services sector and putting many savers and investors off. There is certainly much more to do to protect and help those who are victims of scams.
Every fraud and scam case chips away just a little more public trust. Tackling the scammers will be a key way to rebuild consumer trust.
It is time to kick off when it comes to fraud. Getting the public to blow the whistle on the fraudsters and scammers is critical to making progress. Expect more marches and a lot more noise from the crowd.
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Kevin O’Donnell is editor of Financial Planning Today and a journalist with 40 years of experience in finance, business and mainstream news. This topical comment on the Financial Planning news appears most weeks, usually on Fridays but occasionally other days. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Follow @FPT_Kevin >Top Tip: Follow Financial Planning Today on Twitter / X @_FPToday for breaking news and key updates
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