Sir David Davis welcomes progress on tackling copycat websites

Following David Davis’ campaign against copycat websites, the Government has taken action leading to a fall in the number of people using copycat websites and measures being taken to raise the profile of official Government websites.

Mr Davis said:

“Copycat websites adopt the appearance of Government websites and take advantage of people’s trust, leading them to pay well over the odds for Government services.

Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people were affected by these deceptive sites, which is why I raised the matter with Google and Ministers Ed Vaizey, Francis Maude and Jo Swinson.  I am pleased that the Government have announced the action they are taking to combat this problem by alerting consumers to look for GOV.UK on the webpages they visit.

It is reassuring to learn that there have been 5 arrests due to fraudulent activity through copycat websites and I am encouraged by Ministers’ commitments to pursue these people with legal action.

Whilst this progress is reassuring if you think a website you have used is misleading or deceptive please report it to the Government Digital Service at: www.gov.uk/misleadingwebsites.”