Aviva Fraud Report: 87% think Government should legislate to stop scams

Low consumer trust in online adverts and strong support for Online Safety Bill to include financial scams

• More than half of internet users (53%) don’t trust that the adverts on search engines are placed by a legitimate financial services company or provider
• And more than half (56%) don’t believe that search engines verify the authenticity of the financial product, service, or provider that they allow to be advertised on their platform.
• Almost nine in ten people (87%) think government should legislate to ensure search engines and social media sites do not mislead consumers or promote financial scams
• Aviva calls on government to include financial scams promoted by paid-for adverts in the scope of the Online Safety Bill

Aviva is calling for greater consumer protection from online financial fraud by urging government to include financial scams promoted by paid-for adverts in the scope of the Online Safety Bill.

The Aviva Fraud Report  (download HERE) - which launched today and investigates fraud and financial scams relating to pensions, savings, investments, and insurance – has found consumers have low trust in the internet as a tool for shopping for financial services1.

More than half of internet users (53%) don’t trust that the adverts on search engines are placed by a legitimate financial services company or provider. And more than half (56%) don’t believe that search engines verify the authenticity of the financial product, service, or provider that they allow to be advertised on their platform.

Of those, there is a significant difference in trust by age. Those over 55 were much less likely to trust the results of a search engine than those aged 16 – 24; only 29% of over 55’s compared to 59% of 16–24 year olds.

Rob Lee, Director of Fraud Prevention at Aviva, said: “There is a clear mistrust of financial services adverts online. However, there is no legal responsibility for technology firms to verify the legitimacy of the companies which pay them to publish adverts on their platforms. This potentially leaves millions of internet users exposed to unscrupulous adverts.”

Consumers are clear that more needs to be done to protect them from financial harm online. Almost nine in ten people surveyed (87%) think government should legislate to ensure search engines and social media sites do not mislead consumers or promote financial scams. And 85% of people think search engines should be responsible for advertising content on their platforms so that it is not misleading.

Rob continued: “We believe the Online Safety Bill presents an opportunity to protect financial services consumers at every stage of their online journey. We welcome the recent inclusion of user-generated fraud - such as that promoted on social media sites - within the scope of the regulatory framework. We support the financial services industry in calling for the legislation to include financial scams promoted by paid-for adverts.”

Covid has accelerated the need for action