Stourbridge MP Suzanne Webb is supporting a new government campaign to raise public awareness of fraud and scams in the real and online worlds.

The government launched the ‘Stop! Think Fraud’ campaign to tackle all types of the crime last week. It will deliver tough new anti-fraud messaging across the media and raise public awareness of fraud safety advice in partnership with the police, tech companies, banking, telecoms and charities.

The initiative is part of the 2023 Fraud Strategy that has seen fraud and computer misuse fall by 13 per cent, according to the latest data from the Crime Survey of England and Wales.

Other measures include proposals to ban cold calling for financial services and products, so people will know that unsolicited marketing calls are not legitimate. Suzanne said:

“Fraud, especially online fraud, is a huge problem and my office deals with many cases each year of people who have lost their savings or substantial sums of money through scams.

“But we don’t have to be victims and the new ‘Stop! Think Fraud’ campaign has a website that gives help and advice on preventing fraud.

“Simple measures like anti-virus software and better passwords can help keep people and businesses from the clutches of the cyber criminals.

“This is a welcome initiative that has my support and I urge Stourbridge residents to keep a look out for the campaign and visit the website.”

Government figures say fraud costs the UK nearly £7bn per year with 90% either online or having a cyber element to it.