Overview
- Andrew Bailey, speaking at the IMF meetings in Bangkok on Wednesday, demanded social media firms accept greater responsibility after deepfake ads linked to fraudulent sites targeted the Bank of England earlier this year.
- The IMF raised its global financial stability risk assessment to “elevated” and Kristalina Georgieva warned that rising cyber-fraud could push people away from the formal banking system.
- Bailey said platforms currently face little legal liability for content and contrasted that with newspapers’ responsibility, arguing that tackling fraud cannot fall to banks alone.
- He urged banks and financial firms to deploy the same AI tools used by criminals to detect and block scams, saying defensive technology must keep pace with offensive AI.
- Industry data show online payment fraud is growing — UK Finance reported £1.28 billion stolen in 2025 with two-thirds of scams starting online — a trend regulators say raises risks for consumers and market confidence.