Singapore authorities warn that half of e-commerce fraud occurs on Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp

Jul 04, 2024 19:00:00

In Singapore, where it is said that over 80% of the population uses Facebook, there have been a series of reports of fraud on platforms operated by Meta, including Facebook. The Singaporean government has announced that ‘e-commerce fraud, which involves people scamming money by claiming to sell products, is the second most common type of fraud in the country, with Meta accounting for nearly half of these cases.’

Half of Singapore’s scams are via WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram – Rest of World

https://restofworld.org/2024/singapore-scams-meta/

According to Singapore police authorities, there has been a sharp increase in e-commerce fraud cases, in which victims report paying for goods or services after seeing online advertisements but not receiving them, with 46,563 such frauds reported in 2023. This figure is said to be an increase of nearly 50% from the previous year. The amount of damage caused by e-commerce fraud in 2023 was 652 million Singapore dollars (approximately 78 billion yen).

The Singaporean government has revealed that Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram account for nearly half of all e-commerce fraud cases, and Meta, which manages these three services, is ranked last in the government’s ‘E-Commerce Platform Safety Assessment Index.’ In particular,

Facebook Marketplace, which allows users to buy and sell products on Facebook, received a poor rating, with the government strongly criticizing it as ‘the only platform that does not implement recommended safety features.’

In response to the increase in fraud damage, the Singapore government enacted the Online Crime Victimization Act in February 2024, and in June issued a directive to combat fraud and malicious cyber activity under the act. This will allow the government to order online services operating in the country to establish a code of conduct to combat crime, and seek to reduce crime damage.

Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs has also called on Meta to step up identity checks on ‘high-risk sellers’, saying in a statement that ‘if there is not a significant reduction in the number of e-commerce fraud cases reported on the marketplace, we will require all marketplace sellers to conduct identity checks by 1 March 2025.’

Meta’s fraudulent advertising has been reported all over the world, and government agencies in various countries, including Japan, have called for rectification, but there is no sign of any improvement.

Meta finally issues statement on fraudulent ads, but without any improvement plan, just excuses that ‘reviewing a huge number of ads around the world comes with challenges’ – GIGAZINE

Meta is currently under investigation in the EU for not doing enough to prevent the spread of fraudulent advertising.

EC launches formal proceedings against Meta for allegedly violating the Digital Services Act by failing to prevent fraudulent advertising and the spread of false information – GIGAZINE