User guide
Finding your way around the guide
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Jargon
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Help
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Clicking or tapping on the question mark will open this user guide. It opens on top of the page you're on and you can close it any time by clicking or tapping the cross in the top-right corner.
Campaign Victory: The Online Safety Act
Find out how Which? campaigned to get the Online Safety Act introduced and how it protects you
The Online Safety Bill received Royal Assent and became law in October 2023. This was a remarkable achievement for our campaign.
The Online Safety Act is designed to keep people in the UK safe from illegal and harmful content online. It introduces legal responsibility for search engines and social media to prevent and quickly remove illegal content from their platforms. This includes fraudulent content, such as scam ads.
If they don’t comply, tech giants could see fines up to £18m or 10% of their global annual revenue, whichever is biggest.
The Online Safety Act – what does it do?
Technology companies must be proactive in assessing the risks to users and put in systems and processes to keep people safer.
Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, will set codes of practice. It will have the power to monitor platforms and fine them 10% of their global revenue if they’re found in breach of the rules.
The codes are expected to be approved by Government later this year and be in place by the end of 2024.
What did Which? do?
Which? led the campaign for fraudulent advertising to be included into the Act. The Government subsequently announced the expansion of the Act (with fraudulent advertising included) in March 2022.
What is Which? doing next to protect you from scams?
We have achieved a lot over the last few years to make sure that consumers are protected from scams online but we cannot stop there. We need to make sure that consumers are protected wherever they go online. This is why we are looking to the future of how the Government can make sure that consumers are protected.
As the election looms, we are calling for the next Government to make fraud a national priority by appointing a Fraud Minister and making sure that all digital sectors have rules to protect their customers from scams on their services.
We’ve developed a range of tools and services to help all of us navigate the internet more safely.
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Sign up to our free Scam Alerts newsletter to get timely advice on the latest scams. Our emails will alert you to the scams doing the rounds and provide practical advice on how to protect yourself.
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Help us to help others by using our Scam Sharer Tool. If you come across a scam, complete a simple form to tell us where and how it happened, so we can raise awareness.
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Join our social media communities to learn more about the latest scams and empower us all to combat the fraudsters. Head to Scam Action Facebook Group and Scam Action WhatsApp Group.
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Read our Scams Protection Checklist for those times when you’re contacted out of the blue or being offered something too good to be true.