As part of a countrywide crackdown on frauds, the United Kingdom will prohibit any cold calls marketing financial goods.

The restriction will apply to unsolicited calls proposing any financial product, with the goal of preventing fraudsters from peddling bogus insurance goods or cryptocurrency schemes.

A new fraud squad with 500 employees, up from 120 today, will also be established.

However, Labour and the Liberal Democrats condemned the plans as “too little, too late.”

Fraud is currently the most common crime in the UK, affecting one in every fifteen people.

According to media regulator Ofcom, 41 million consumers were targeted by questionable calls and texts last summer. According to research, most fraud now involves an online component.

The government stated that the blanket ban on cold calls marketing financial items would also apply to genuine calls.

This means that “anyone who receives a call attempting to sell them products such as cryptocurrency schemes or insurance will know it’s a scam,” according to the statement.

Following a consultation, it will be decided which financial products will be covered, with the ban expected to go into effect this summer.

Furthermore, the government stated:

Sim Farms, in which users utilize a large number of Sim cards to send text messages in mass, will be prohibited.
Police and intelligence services will collaborate with international partners to close down fraudulent contact centers.
People will be warned about the dangers of scam calls through advertising campaigns.
New steps will be used to combat phone number “spoofing,” in which scammers modify Caller ID information to make calls appear legitimate.
The new restrictions, according to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, would target “cold-hearted” scammers who “ruin lives in seconds.”

These schemes, he claims, fuel “organized crime and terror.”