Eastwood MP uses constituent case to warn against sophisticated online scams

With the rise of the internet, online scams have become increasingly prevalent and have had a devastating impact on victims.

Many of the scams that occur today are highly sophisticated and can be hard to spot, leaving individuals feeling particularly vulnerable.

Mr Anderson, Conservative MP for Ashfield constituency, has dealt with several cases of online scams and fraud whilst representing Ashfield since 2019, and has recently been working to support one of his constituents, Sue Anson, in her case against a scam being conducted through her phone company.

Sue, who is retired and lives in Brinsley, had her mobile number cut off in July, having alerted her service provider to the scam in June.

She was then charged more than double her monthly phone bill. Since then, Sue has been battling to rectify the damage that has been caused.

Mr Anderson said: “I was deeply concerned to hear of Sue’s case, particularly so when I learnt of O2’s failure to handle the situation appropriately.

“Sue has been a loyal customer and an innocent victim of a calculating crime, yet has been let down by her phone provider, which is yet to reimburse her for the overcharge she received.

“Companies like O2, with the significant profile they possess, have a duty to protect their customers and to ensure scams and fraud cases are dealt with urgently.

“Given the development of technology, cases like Sue’s are likely to becoming increasingly common. However, it is important the technological industry tackles this issue head on.

“We cannot live in a society where vulnerable individuals are taken advantage of in this way. Scams like this leave the victims feeling isolated and unable to go about their daily lives, due to a fear it could easily happen again.”

Mr Anderson said the Government's new fraud strategy will deliver a 10 per cent cut in fraud on 2019 levels by December 2024, through measures including a new national police fraud squad and a ban on ‘SIM farms’ used by criminals to send thousands of scam texts at once.”

Virgin Media O2 has been approached for comment.