Martin Lewis: "Dear Prime Minister, you said to Big Tech 'if you profit from harm and abuse, you lose the right to self-regulate' – yet you've done almost nothing to tackle scam ads?"

To: Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer MP, Prime Minister
CC: Rt Hon Liz Kendall MP, Secretary of State, DSIT

19 May 2026

Dear Prime Minister

Recently, you said the Government would take action against X if it did not address issues with its AI bot Grok, stating, "if you profit from harm and abuse, you lose the right to self-regulate". 

This is the right attitude, but it is sadly woefully lacking when it comes to all victims of harm and online abuse. Which? and MoneySavingExpert (MSE) are writing to express our concerns with the Government's lack of action to hold Big Tech accountable for the fraud that takes place on its platforms. 

This fraud doesn't just destroy people's financial lives, it can also destroy self-esteem and have huge impacts on mental health. It is easily one of the most common forms of 'harm and abuse' and needs addressing as a matter of urgency. 

Fraud accounts for 45% of all UK crime, the majority of which occurs online. The landscape of these scams continues to degrade, with more invasive scams using increasingly developed technology. 

We've seen an increase in AI deepfakes for both 'get rich quick' schemes and fake news articles using clickbait fake news headlines to draw people in. These often deliberately pervert the reputation of trusted names, including Martin Lewis (a signatory to this letter), Deborah Meaden, Richard Branson and others, to prey on consumers. 

The stats speak for themselves. In the first half of 2025, 66% of authorised push payment (APP) fraud began on major online platforms, with AI now giving criminals the tools to execute high-value frauds on these sites at scale, driving a 55% increase in investment scams over the past year.

Major online platforms are not just hosting criminal activity, they are actively profiting from it. Latest reports show that platforms generate approximately £3.8 billion annually from scam ads targeting European users.

The firms will often try to suggest that there are technological difficulties in preventing fraud. That isn't true, it is a lack of incentive. They aim to operate frictionless advertising models, so anyone, without checks, can pay and get their ads published and put in front of millions of eyeballs. They aren't willing to add the friction that responsible advertising demands, never mind go through the rigid checks British old-media firms are forced to.

By neglecting their role in the fight against fraud, these companies are enabling unnecessary financial and emotional harm at a time when household budgets are being squeezed. 

While we were pleased to see DSIT Secretary of State, Liz Kendall MP stress the importance of these firms using 'the tools readily available to them to make their platforms safer' in Parliament and the Fraud Minister's comments putting social media firms 'on notice' for bad practice, beyond the new data sharing initiative in the Fraud Strategy, we are concerned the Government is taking no meaningful action to deliver on this rhetoric. 

By failing to hold Big Tech firms accountable through the Fraud Strategy and Online Safety Act (OSA), we're concerned the Government is giving these platforms free rein to continue profiting from the financial and emotional harm scams cause to millions of victims every year. 

If the Government is serious about forcing these firms to improve the 'takedown' of fraudulent content, there are some clear steps it can take. 

Platforms should be legally obligated to protect their users from scam advertising under the OSA, but implementation of the codes of practice for paid-for fraudulent advertising has been repeatedly delayed, leaving consumers unprotected until 2027 at the earliest – making it around a decade now that the public has had to suffer unpoliced social media scams. 

The Government must instruct Ofcom to deliver these codes as soon as possible. Additionally, we would appreciate confirmation in your response to this letter of how you will be holding platforms to account until these protections take effect, and how you will ensure robust enforcement of these codes by Ofcom when they are finally in place. 

Yours sincerely,

Anabel Hoult 
Which? Chief Executive 

Martin Lewis
Founder and Chair, MoneySavingExpert.com