E-commerce scams in Carousell, META decline: gov’t

MHA will not mandate the enhanced verification requirement for Carousell sellers.

The number of reported e-commerce scams on Carousell and META’s Facebook Marketplace decreased by 11% and 55%, respectively, from June to December 2024 according to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Presently, MHA will not mandate the enhanced verification requirement for Carousell sellers. Instead, the ministry will extend the assessment period by an additional six months.

If the number of e-commerce scams reported on Carousell does not drop significantly, MHA may require Carousell to verify the identities of all sellers by 1 October 2025.

MHA will not mandate the enhanced verification requirement for all Marketplace sellers but will continue to monitor scams on the platform.

Facebook advertisement, in contrast, saw a 12% increase in scam reports over the assessment period.

MHA noted that Meta’s verification requirements were restricted to paid advertisements, whilst the Singapore Police Force’s statistics comprise both paid and unpaid advertisements.

In line with this, MHA said Meta intends to verify the identities of all advertisers on Facebook by the end of June 2025.