HRH Princess Anne told representatives and senior ministers from 11 different countries that a unified global approach was essential to tackle the growing issue. Over 70% of instances of fraud in the UK is perpetrated by organised criminal groups based overseas with over £3 billion lost annually.
The Princess Royal commented "Ordinary people everywhere in the world, particularly those who are least equipped to defend themselves".
"The internet is global. And so are fraudsters, they're globally organised and our response needs to be too."
Whilst James Cleverly commented that this type of crime is often under the radar, "It happens in a way that victims are unaware of, and perhaps when the victim has become aware of the crime they feel too embarrassed to do anything about it."
i3forum/One Consortium, Vodafone and GSMA represented the telecom sector.
Founder and chairman of the i3forum, Philippe Millet, said, “The Global Fraud Summit highlighted that global cooperation between the industry, public organisations, law makers, regulators and law enforcement is crucial.
“Each industry is working on tackling fraud, but we must work together as often the crime will straddle more than one industry – for example banking and telecoms.
“The issue is global and the response must be too.”
Eli Katz, Board Member, i3forum and CEO & founder, XConnect commented “The i3Forum’s ‘RestoreTrust’ initiative for the international voice and messaging ecosystems is driving global collaboration across both the telecoms industry and government. This dovetails with the unique approach of the inaugural Global Fraud Summit – hosted by the UK Government, and including senior industry, government representatives and ministers from G7, 5eyes, EU, UN and others."
In 2023 The GLF released their annual fraud report which revealed that 92% of carriers said that fighting fraud was a top strategic priority – a 15% increase from the previous year. Instances of international messaging fraud had almost doubled over a 12 month period, jumping from 35% to 61%.
Smishing, AIT and SMS originator spoofing were deemed to be the biggest threat in terms of volume and financial impact in messaging fraud.
Annabel Helm, Managing Director, GLF said: “In our persistent fight against fraud, the ITW Global Leaders Forum recognises the need for collaborative efforts to combat the increasing challenges in voice and messaging fraud.
"While progress has been made, concerns persist about the misalignment of priorities such as compensation models and the impact of unwanted calls on consumers. We believe that by fostering industry-wide coordination and aligning our goals, we can positively impact the industry and rebuild trust.”
