I wrote recently about a number of fake ads, stories and online scams mentioning my name and using my photo to trick people. It’s essential that swift action is taken against criminals that commit intellectual property crime. In the last year, we have dealt with more than 130 instances of me being impersonated, fake pages, misleading ads and false endorsements. I am determined to protect my followers and Virgin customers from being misled. We need to prevent anyone being confused into giving money or their personal information away. I would urge everyone to keep reporting these scams.
Now, on World IP Day (yes, that is a thing!) the City of London Police’s Intellectual Property Crime Directory is launching The IP Crime Directory. The initiative will help identify, tackle and disrupt the intellectual property crime market, which is estimated to be worth £1.3 trillion pounds globally.
Law enforcement and business need to work together to tackle this problem, which is where the IP Crime Directory website comes in. Authorities will be able to identify counterfeit goods with the help of information uploaded by rights holders. Information like packaging and other identifiers for counterfeit goods will be held on the website. Those signed up will also be able to create alerts that could warn brands or law enforcement about the latest crime trends in intellectual property crime.
Meanwhile, more and more criminals are using the reputation of prominent people to give fake investments credibility. I’ve been contacted by victims after they have found out their ‘investments’, which they believed were endorsed by me, are worthless or non-existent. The scale of this problem is growing. City of London Police last year requested the suspension of over 160,000 banks accounts, websites and phone lines suspected of being used to commit fraud. According to Action Fraud, the national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre, reports of binary options fraud tripled in the last financial year, costing £13 million.
Fraudsters posing as binary options traders on social networks often use the promise of unrealistically high returns on ‘investments’ to lure potential victims. These scams can be terrifyingly deceptive and I would urge everyone to look out for these stories and report them as soon as you see them. I am determined to prevent anyone being confused into giving money or their personal information away on a false pretence.
Head over to the IP Crime Directory to get more information on how brands can work with law enforcement to tackle intellectual property crime. To find out more about the latest scams and to report fraud go to www.actionfraud.police.uk.