Barclays PLC (LSE:BARC) has stirred up the debate about online scams and compensation by arguing social media companies should foot at least some of the bill.
Nearly 90% of shopping scams costing around £1,000 on average start on social media platforms, it said, and giants such as Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB)-owned Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram should pay their share of the cost of recompense.
Barclays wants a victim reimbursement fund to be financed by all the firms used by the scammers, including tech companies as well as banks.
Scam prevention should also be made mandatory for tech companies, the bank suggests, rather than the current voluntary code, with a cross-party MP group to coordinate action by regulators industry and companies.
Banks have become increasingly frustrated at what they say is a lack of effort to deal with the problem by the giant tech firms.
Matt Hammerstein, Barclays UK chief executive, said: “Our data shows that tech platforms, particularly social media, are now the source of almost all scams.
'However, there is no current legislative or regulatory framework obliging the tech sector to support the prevention of these crimes, as there rightly is for banks.
'We can only drive back this epidemic, and protect UK competitiveness, by stopping scams at their source, preventing the flow of funds to organised crime.”