Singapore has tightened measures against online scams, including a ban on messaging services sending messages to unknown recipients and social media services from allowing advertisers without verification. The ban on messaging services sending messages to unknown recipients and social media services allowing unregistered advertisers comes as part of Singapore’s efforts to clamp down on online scams starting Aug 18.
In recent years, there have been numerous reports of cyberscam hubs, which entice foreigners to perform online romance and cryptocurrency investment scams across Southeast Asia.
Home Affairs Minister Sim Ann told parliament last November that Singapore has suffered losses of more than US$2.8bil (RM11.37bil) from scams since 2020 up to this year’s first half.
The new regulations under the Online Criminal Harms Act focus on services that are believed to be the “highest risk” for scams in the country, Singapore’s police said Aug 18.
Online messaging platforms are a place where investment scams are a main concern, the police said in a statement.
In this variant, the scammer contacts the victim on an account that the victim does not know from before (‘unknown contact’) with a promise of a good investment product.
WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat, Apple iMessage, Apple FaceTime, Google Messages and Google Meet are being forced to get the permission of their users before being added to groups or channels by unknown contacts.
They also have to notify users of suspicious accounts and provide options to silence, filter or block communications.
A separate code for Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will require platforms to ban ads suspected of being fraudulent, check government records for advertiser identity and require financial services promoted to Singapore users to be provided by licensed ones.
According to the statement, in 2025, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok had an approximate 30% share of total scam cases, while approximately 18% of total scam cases had occurred on Facebook.
E-commerce platforms like Carousell, Facebook Marketplace and Facebook Business will also be mandated to have better login security.
Platforms will have until 31 January 2027 to comply, whereas the measures to prevent “spoofing” (imitation of the Singapore government) are required to be set in place by the end of September.
The police said there could be financial penalties of up to S$ 1 million (US$782,500/RM3.17mil) if they are not complied with.
Over the last few years, there have been tremendous efforts in public education by the Singaporean authorities against scams, such as the institution of the caning punishment of up to 24 strokes for serious scam offences.
