Meta has announced the expansion of its Fraud Intelligence Reciprocal Exchange (FIRE) programme, designed to share information with UK banks in order to tackle online scammers across its platforms. Following a successful six-month pilot with NatWest and Metro Bank, Meta is now onboarding more UK banks to further the fight against fraud.
During the pilot, information shared by NatWest and Metro Bank helped Meta remove around 20,000 accounts linked to scams, including the takedown of a concert ticket scam network that targeted people in the UK and US. The FIRE programme allows banks to directly share fraud-related data with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Nathaniel Gleicher, Meta’s global head of counter-fraud, stated: “We will only beat these criminals if we work together and share relevant information related to scams. Financial institutions can share unique information with us, which we can use to train our systems to take action against more scams globally.”
David Lindberg, CEO of retail banking at NatWest, sees the partnership as a key step in fighting the growing issue of fraud, while Nik Adams, temporary assistant commissioner at the City of London Police, praised the initiative for its potential to disrupt criminal activities and better protect victims.
The FIRE programme’s expansion comes at a time when banks are urging big tech, social media companies, and telcos to take greater responsibility for fraud originating from their platforms. New rules for the UK banking industry will soon mandate the reimbursement of most losses from Authorised Push Payment (APP) frauds, but with 76% of APP fraud occurring online, banks argue that tech giants should share the burden.
David Callington, head of fraud at HSBC UK, recently highlighted the need for tech firms to be held accountable, noting that “they need the financial incentive” to actively combat online fraud. Last year, 11 major tech and social media firms signed the UK Online Fraud Charter, committing to addressing fraud from fake ads and romance scams, but UK Finance has since called for tougher governmental action to enforce these efforts.