Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy, said: "Our research on the open display advertising market shows how organised crime gangs have been able to exploit loopholes in online advertising regulation to make almost a million pounds in a day from scamming unsuspecting consumers before their activities are shut down - with fake celebrity endorsements often used as the hook. "It's vital that the government uses its Online Advertising Programme work to move from a failed reactive approach to one based on prevention, that requires online platforms and other players in the advertising ecosystem to protect consumers from fraudulent and misleading adverts. "This must be backed up by a statutory regulator with powers to crack down on the problem and prevent these adverts appearing in the first place - something that will require ad tech providers to collect and share data on scams." -ENDS-
Notes to editors- The above call for regulation applies to platforms and intermediaries (ad tech providers) not already covered in the Online Safety Bill.
