OFT releases new advertising rules for credit providers
From 31 October 2004 all UK businesses advertising credit services will have to comply with new regulations. The new consumer credit advertising regulations were implemented by the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in an effort to ensure consumers can quickly and easily compare and contrast products.
All advertisements offering credit must now show the typical annual percentage rate (APR) prominently and some information must be displayed ‘together as a whole’, which in the case of internet advertising means one screen.
Sixty-six per cent of credit agreements granted by businesses must also be at or below the typical APR. The new regulations apply to off-line as well as to internet advertising and other forms of electronic communication such as teletext or mobile phones. The OFT will monitor compliance with the new regulations.
Operation roaming charge
The ongoing international enforcement operation known as ‘Operation Roaming Charge’ is showing that international cooperation among enforcement agencies is an effective tool in preventing and apprehending perpetrators of telemarketing fraud schemes.
Operation Roaming Charge began on 1 January 2004 and has so far, through 100 separate international investigations, resulted in 135 individual arrests and 279 criminal, civil and regulatory legal actions being brought against operators of illegal telemarketing schemes. The success of Operation Roaming Charge is largely due to effective cooperation between enforcement agencies in several countries including Spain, Nigeria, the UK, Philippines, Costa Rica, the US and Canada.
Schemes uncovered in the operation include lottery scams and business/employment opportunity scams, fraudulent ‘pre-approved’ credit cards or credit card protection scams and do-not-call violations.
The operation has revealed that five million victims worldwide have lost more than A$1.3 billion to these deceptive or unfair telemarketing practices.
