Treasury Committee chair, Mel Stride, has written to four tech firms for information on their policies to tackle online scams and protect consumers online.

In the letters to Microsoft, Twitter, Snapchat and TikTok, Stride asked whether their advertising policies requires firms advertising financial services on their platforms to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and, if not, if they had plans to amend those policies.

He also wanted to know how much the FCA had paid the firms over the past three years to warn users of unauthorised adverts and user-generated content, what arrangements the companies had to compensate the FCA for the costs of that advertising, and whether any other public sector bodies had paid them for advertisements alerting users to online scams.

The tech firms were also pressed to reveal how much revenue they had earned over the past three years from paid-for advertising for financial services offered by companies not authorised by the FCA.

Furthermore, Stride queried the firms’ policies for compensating users who fell victim to online fraud due to advertising or user-generated content on their platforms and whether they had every enacted these policies.

Stride also wanted to know whether there were any legal or other barriers that hindered data transfer that could help identify and prevent online financial harm.

“Online platforms have changed the way we live, work and socialise,” commented Stride.

“However, it’s clear that fraud is rapidly rising and ruining people’s lives. Scammers seem to act with impunity online and their actions can have devastating consequences.

“As a committee, we are investigating the causes, scale and effects of economic crime. We want to gain a clearer understanding of the actions tech companies are taking to combat fraud and protect consumers online.

“That’s why I have today written to Microsoft, Twitter, Snapchat and TikTok to request information on how they are preventing their users from falling victim to scams.

“It is also imperative that the government takes further action in this area. We have long suggested that including fraudulent advertisements within the scope of the Online Safety Bill would be a good place to start. Without coordinated action, I fear many more people will sadly fall victim to these scammers.”

The committee has previously written to Facebook, Google, Amazon and Ebay with similar queries.

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