Tech companies should help to reimburse the victims of social media purchase scams, bosses at Barclays have said. It comes as data from the bank revealed a jump in the number of social media scams affecting British shoppers. Purchase scams, where people buy good which never arrive or are not as advertised, now account for two thirds of all reported scams, according to the research. Barclays said that 88% of these scams, which cause victims to lose £1,000 on average, start on social media platforms. The bank has called for more to be done in order to prevent these scams, demanding further action from social media companies and politicians. It has called for a victim reimbursement fund to be financed by all firms whose systems and platforms are used to perpetrate scams, including tech companies and banks, as part of four recommendations. Currently victims are only reimbursed by funding from banks, Barclays said. The banking giant also called for the creation of a cross-Government group within the Home Office to deal with the issue in order to coordinate regulators, policy makers, industry groups, and companies across different sectors. The prevention of scams should also be made mandatory, particularly for tech companies, in a shift from current voluntary measures, it added. Barclays also urged the Government to make organisations publish their scams data in order to inform consumers of the risks involved in using their platforms. Matt Hammerstein, chief executive officer of Barclays UK, said: “With so much of everyone’s lives now being online, from staying connected with friends and family, to shopping, it’s important that people feel safe on the platforms they use. “Our data shows that tech platforms, particularly social media, are now the source of almost all scams. “However, there is no current legislative or regulatory framework obliging the tech sector to support the prevention of these crimes, as there rightly is for banks. “We can only drive back this epidemic, and protect UK competitiveness, by stopping scams at their source, preventing the flow of funds to organised crime.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Hozier would consider striking over AI threat to music industry Snapchat experiences ‘temporary outage’ as My AI chatbot posts own Story Crime victims’ data revealed by two police forces in FoI responses

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Lewis Hamilton criticised Mercedes’ tactics and suggested he and George Russell needed to “work as a team” after on-track battles throughout the Japanese Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion finished fifth at Suzuka, two places ahead of Russell in a race where the pair scrapped repeatedly and aired frustration over the team radio. After an early coming together where Russell surged past Hamilton before swiftly losing the place again, the 38-year-old pushed his team-mate off track in a second scrap and they then disagreed over how to defend their places against Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Russell was struggling on his tyres having attempted a one-stop strategy, while others around him deployed a two-stop, and Hamilton urged his team to let him through. The 25-year-old resisted on the radio before being told “this is an instruction, George” and allowing Hamilton to pass. Hamilton was then told to stay within DRS range to help his team-mate defend against Sainz, as the Spaniard had done to thwart Russell a week ago in Singapore. “We should have swapped around earlier and I should have got as far ahead as possible to get the gap as big as we could to the Ferrari,” Hamilton said. “Because he (Russell) was trying to fight me he was damaging his tyres and I think it just made it all complicated. “The fact is we are not fighting each other in the team championship. As drivers it is not important where we are. “What is important is that one of us finishes ahead of the Ferrari and to keep the position. Today we really needed to work as a team.” We are not fighting each other in the team championship. As drivers it is not important where we are Lewis Hamilton Hamilton also disagreed with the team’s DRS strategy. “I don’t think that was a good idea at all,” he said. “When they suggested it to me I knew that they obviously thought of it from the last race but it made no sense. “I needed to get as far clear as possible. I was on my way, around two seconds ahead and they asked me to give George DRS and I had to come off the gas down the straight. “Then he got overtaken by Sainz. He then got past George and he was right on my tail which was not ideal.” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was absent for this race due to knee surgery, with his role divided among numerous other staff while the Austrian was on the intercom. The team’s lead to Ferrari was cut in the battle for second in the constructors’ championship – which Red Bull clinched at Suzuka with a record six races remaining. Max Verstappen stormed to victory, with McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on the podium ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Russell, who lost sixth to Sainz at the death, said he had no hard feelings over the battle with Hamilton. “The main goal is to finish P2 in the constructors’ championship,” Russell said. “The drivers’ championship is out of the window for me totally. Lewis is in a good place to fight for a good position. “The goal is to finish ahead of Ferrari this season and keep on working for next year. No issues on my side. “I viewed it as good, hard racing. Of course we lost a bit of overall time fighting each other. You are a bit frustrated on the radio but that is just part of racing. “We are not even going to discuss it, there is nothing to discuss. We have bigger fish to fry which is how do we make the car go quicker.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Max Verstappen pips Oscar Piastri to pole after tense qualifying for Japanese GP Lando Norris narrows gap on Max Verstappen at final practice in Japan Max Verstappen returns to form in Japanese Grand Prix practice

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Charles Leclerc saw off team-mate Carlos Sainz by just 0.067 seconds as Ferrari locked out the front row for Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix. Max Verstappen improved on his final run at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez but could not usurp the Ferrari drivers, finishing 0.097 sec adrift. WEEKEND PREVIEW: How home hero Sergio Perez can save his Red Bull seat The triple world champion also faces a nervous wait to see if he is moved down the grid after being summoned to see the stewards. Verstappen, charged with impeding on the pit exit, was among four drivers who was be hauled in front of the race officials, but only Logan Sargeant received a penalty. Follow updates from the Mexican Grand Prix with The Independent Read More F1 grid: Starting positions for Mexican Grand Prix F1 icon Willy T Ribbs: ‘There were death threats – but I was never going to play the victim’ Charles Leclerc leads shock Ferrari front row at Mexican Grand Prix

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