September 4, 2025
SINGAPORE – For the first time, the police will issue an order to an online platform to tackle the scam scourge in Singapore, with possible fines of up to $1 million.
In a tougher show of force, the implementation directive to tech company Meta, which runs Facebook, is meant to fight scams, including government official impersonation scams.
The company will have to implement measures to address scam advertisements, accounts, profiles and business pages impersonating key government office-holders on Facebook.
If Meta fails to comply, it can be fined up to $1 million.
This is the first implementation directive issued to an online service provider in Singapore under the Online Criminal Harms Act (Ocha) since the law came into force in February 2024.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Goh Pei Ming announced this on Sept 3 during his remarks at the Global Anti-Scam Summit Asia 2025, held at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Mr Goh said the tougher measure was implemented because Facebook is the top platform used by scammers to impersonate key government office-holders.
He added: “The police have assessed that more decisive action is required to curb such scams.”
Police mid-year statistics released on Aug 30 showed government official impersonation scams have almost tripled, with 1,762 cases reported in the first half of 2025 compared with 589 over the same period in 2024.
Victims lost $126.5 million in the first six months of 2025, a nearly 90 per cent increase from $67.2 million in the first half of 2024.
Several accounts or posts on Facebook impersonating Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and former defence minister Ng Eng Hen popped up earlier in 2025.
PM Wong had warned the public in March against fake Facebook advertisements using deepfakes or his images to sell cryptocurrency, money-making schemes or permanent resident application services.
Mr Goh said the Government is enhancing its measures against such impersonation scams, and will continue to work closely with Meta to fight such fraud.
Earlier in his speech, he had said: “For Singapore, the war against scams remains a top national priority. Singapore is a very attractive scam target.
“Dealing with a threat as insidious as scams will require a whole-of-society approach.”
He said this involves four measures: pre-emptively blocking scams, encouraging the reporting and detection of scams, taking firm action against scammers and recovering scam proceeds, and public education.
Asked for comments on the implementation directive, a Meta spokeswoman said: “It’s against our policies to impersonate or run ads that deceptively use public figures to try to scam people, and we remove these when detected.”
She added that Meta has specialised systems to detect impersonating accounts and celeb-bait ads.
She said the company also invests in improving its detection and trained review teams, shares tips on avoiding scams and offers tools to report potential violations.
At the summit on Sept 2, Meta product management director Maxime Prades said the company had protected nearly 500,000 public figures around the world with facial recognition technology.
Strained relationship
Meta has a strained relationship with the Singapore authorities for the way it handles scams.
In February 2024, then Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling criticised Meta in Parliament for repeatedly refusing to have safeguards on its platforms to tackle the scam scourge.
Ms Sun, who is now Senior Minister of State for Transport and for National Development, had urged the company “to step up, to do right by your users”.
Meta said it was dismayed by Ms Sun’s comments and that it was reviewing the Ministry of Home Affairs’ suggestions seriously.
Meta’s Facebook Marketplace has also been ranked the worst in Singapore’s E-commerce Marketplace Transaction Safety Ratings for four consecutive years, including the latest one released on Aug 30.
Keeping tabs on TikTok
Mr Goh also announced that the police have listed TikTok as a designated online service from Sept 1.
This means the social media platform has to comply with the Code of Practice for Online Communication Services under Ocha by Feb 28, 2026.
The code requires designated online services to implement ways to counter scams and cybercrime, failing which they can be directed to take corrective action and risk fines of up to $1 million. Other designated social media platforms, Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram, are also under this obligation.
In announcing the move, Mr Goh said the number of scam cases on TikTok increased by 240 per cent in 2024 from 2023.
A spokesman for TikTok told The Straits Times on Sept 3 that it welcomes the Government’s efforts under Ocha.
He added: “We are committed to doing our part by continuing to strengthen our in-app protections, while also investing in education and awareness to help the community stay ahead of scam tactics and avoid fraud.”
ST understands that TikTok removed more than 173,000 fraudulent videos in Singapore in 2024.
Both Meta and TikTok are partners of the Global Signal Exchange, an international network for exchanging scam-related intelligence, which the Government Technology Agency also joined.
On a brighter note, Mr Goh highlighted the overall drop in scam cases and losses in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024.
Scam victims lost $456.4 million between January and June 2025, down from the $522.4 million lost during the same period in 2024.
Mr Goh said: “It shows that with sufficient determination and effort, we can push back against the scammers.”