Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis says he was ‘left in tears’ by fraudsters as he issued an urgent warning about a scam epidemic in the UK.
During an appearance on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, he urged the public to be vigilant of scam adverts using his trusted image to lure in unsuspecting victims.
Martin has called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to clamp down on the hoax adverts in the upcoming Online Safety Bill, which aims to regulate content posted online – slamming the government’s decision to omit paid scam advertising from the proposals, as reported by the Liverpool Echo.
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He said: “These scammers are clever commercial thieves. They will understand there is now going to be less scrutiny on the adverts than the user generated content so the bill the government is going to put through Parliament is going to promote more scam adverts.
“They’re not just gonna ignore our call to regulate scam adverts. They are actively doing something that will mean more scam adverts. It is outrageously frustrating.”
Martin Lewis has long campaigned against the bogus adverts that use celebrities to lure in unsuspecting users.
The consumer champion has led a joint letter urging the government to include paid scam advertising in the online bill, which has received support from celebrities such as Holly Willoughby, Phillip Schofield and Bradley Walsh.
He explained: “Real star power there and all of those people have their names and faces perverted by criminal scammers trying to steal money off people.”
Martin said it is up to the government and regulators to clamp down on the problem – but Nadine Dorries told a Parliamentary Commitee she is unable to do add paid scams to the bill due to “legal advice”.
Martin Lewis blasted the government’s response and revealed revealed how deeply he is affected when people have been conned out of thousands of pounds from fraudsters using his image.
(Image: ITV)
He said: “We face an epidemic of scams in the UK.
“I have spent 20 years trying to help people protect themselves as consumers and to have my name and face utilised in this way by scammers to steal people’s money is devastating. It leaves me in tears.
“I probably shouldn’t say this but it is only my wish that Boris Johnson, who we have written to today, was as trusted as me and the other people in the letters – so that the scammers were using his face to rip people off.
“If they were using the Prime Minister’s face to rip people off, I suspect I wouldn’t have to be fighting as hard to get scam adverts covered in this online safety bill.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV and ITVHub.
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