appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Kolette Lim

Singapore’s new rules for messaging platforms mark a significant shift in the country’s fight against scams, placing greater responsibility on digital services to help stop fraudsters before they reach potential victims, as the government seeks stronger penalties for non-compliance.
Analysts said the requirements could reduce the number of people exposed to scams and offer a potential model for other Southeast Asian countries, while cautioning that sophisticated fraudsters could adapt and seek ways around the new safeguards.
Singapore police announced earlier this month that online messaging platforms must implement measures to make it more difficult for unknown contacts to engage users and to alert people to potential scam risks.
The rules build on the Online Criminal Harms Act (Ocha), which gives authorities powers to issue directions, codes of practice and implementation directives aimed at disrupting online criminal activity, including scams.
Singapore authorities have framed the measures as part of a wider effort to reduce scam exposure before victims are drawn into conversations with fraudsters.
The stakes are high: scam victims in Singapore lost about S$410.6 million (US$323 million) in the first half of this year, despite an overall fall in scam cases and losses from the same period previous year, according to the police’s midyear scam and cybercrime brief, issued on Wednesday. Authorities said messaging platforms were the top contact method used to reach victims in 27.6 per cent out of 16,821 scam cases.

The new requirements include displaying warnings or signs of risk – such as country of origin or date of creation of an unknown account – and requiring users to give consent before being added to chat groups or channels by unfamiliar contacts.
Platforms will also have to allow users to silence, filter or block messages or calls from numbers not saved in their contacts.
The requirements will apply to seven platforms and services – WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat, Apple iMessage, Apple FaceTime, Google Message and Google Meet – which must comply with the broader code by January 31, 2027. Measures relating to spoofing the Singapore government must be in place by September 30.
The new requirements were a “wise” move likely to reduce scam cases, said David Lam, an associate fellow at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute.
“Online scamming is a dynamic threat landscape with scammers constantly evolving their methods and tactics to exploit victims,” he said, adding that messaging platforms had a critical role in stemming communication between fraudsters and potential victims.
Failure to comply with Ocha directives without a reasonable excuse currently carries a fine of up to S$1 million, a figure the Ministry of Home Affairs has proposed raising to S$10 million as the city state battles a scam scourge.
Chew Han Ei, an adjunct senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, said the new measures were a part of a significant shift to increase platform-level responsibility. “People text quickly, often under distraction or time pressure, and malicious actors deliberately exploit those opportunities. Good platform design should therefore help users make safer choices by default,” he said.


Limits of prevention
Analysts said the requirements could make it harder for scammers to reach potential victims, but warned against viewing them as a way to eradicate scams altogether.
“Scams are a multibillion-dollar industry. The actors are constantly innovating at the same time as the companies, and they would probably find ways to circumvent these technical features,” said Shahzeb Mahmood, head of research at Tech Global Institute.
Fraudsters could easily move to other platforms to conduct operations, he said. “A lot of people in Singapore, especially migrant workers, use platforms other than the seven mentioned and those are falling through the cracks.”
Nuurrianti Jalli, a visiting fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, said scammers could take control of accounts in potential victims’ contact lists, or use a local number or established account to appear less suspicious.
She also warned of user fatigue, whereby people become accustomed to dismissing warnings that are too vague or frequent.
“Ultimately, these measures should reduce the number of people entering the scam funnel, but they will not eliminate scams,” Nuurrianti said. “I would describe them as friction rather than a firewall.”
Analysts said non-compliance by major technology companies was less likely to be the main obstacle.
Ocha took effect in February 2024, with its first directive issued last year to Meta Platforms – which owns Facebook and WhatsApp – to implement measures curbing Facebook impersonation scams. Similar directives were also issued to Apple and Google.

Singapore’s authorities had reported compliance in earlier cases involving online platforms, Nuurrianti said.
“Many of these capabilities are not being developed entirely from scratch,” she said. “Major platforms already have different forms of spam detection, unknown-sender filtering, blocking, group privacy controls and scam warnings.”
Mahmood said scams should also be understood within a wider transnational criminal ecosystem, which could include offences such as human and drug trafficking, increasing the incentive and urgency for companies to cooperate.
“Scams in isolation might not be a huge policy priority for companies, but when you look at it more holistically, it’s connected to illegal operations around the world and that’s something companies take very seriously,” he said.
A regional model?
Singapore’s expanded requirements may set a precedent for Southeast Asian countries to adopt a similar framework to tackle scams, given the scale and cross-border nature of online fraud, according to Ysa Marie Cayabyab, an associate research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
“Southeast Asia has a highly connected digital environment, but this leaves us exposed to a wider range of scams and vulnerabilities,” she said.

Neighbouring countries have also started placing more responsibility on platforms to stop online harm.
In June, Malaysia implemented rules requiring online service providers to include safeguards that limit account registration and ownership by users under the age of 16, and to implement stronger content governance.
Thailand in May introduced requirements for social media platforms to verify the identity of advertisers before publication, in a bid to prevent online crimes.
In March, Indonesia started enforcing a social media ban for under-16s to shield some 70 million children from the threats of online pornography, cyberbullying and internet addiction.
Cayabyab said, however, that effectiveness would vary considerably across the region.
“Differences in digital literacy, regulatory capacity, platform penetration, languages, and patterns of online behaviour mean that a measure that works well in Singapore may not translate directly elsewhere,” she said.
But a regional approach would still be useful, she said, urging greater information sharing among governments and platforms, such as common standards for identifying suspicious behaviour and faster mechanisms to act on red flags.
Lam urged coordination and cooperation between Southeast Asian nations, citing a precedent case which resulted in positive action.
In January, Indonesia and Malaysia temporarily blocked or restricted access to the Grok AI chatbot operated by Elon Musk’s xAI amid growing concern internationally over sexualised images, while officials in the Philippines also signalled action. Within the month, xAI imposed new restrictions limiting image editing.


North Korea at Japan’s Asian Games: sports diplomacy or propaganda stunt?

Health crisis grips Indonesians enduring haze: ‘my eyes sting, my head hurts’

China mulls bid for Apec free-trade area to taunt US, tantalise Asia

Kimi creator Moonshot draws global funds seeking ‘top-tier’ Chinese AI developers: sources

Singapore

Can Singapore’s new anti-scam rules help stop online fraud before it occurs?

People walk past a poster warning of scam threats in the financial business district of Raffles Place in Singapore in September 2025. Photo: AFP

Platforms will have to allow users to silence, filter or block messages or calls from numbers not saved in their contacts, in new requirements set by Singapore. Photo: Shutterstock

Singapore issued a directive to Meta last year to implement measures curbing Facebook impersonation scams. Photo: Shutterstock

A young boy plays with a phone inside a mosque in Putrajaya, Malaysia. Photo: AFP

Singapore’s future island plan stirs concern over reefs and old fishing grounds

An old photo shows a family’s boat trip to Pulau Seking to get supplies while revisiting Pulau Semakau in 1988 after relocating to mainland Singapore. Photo: Instagram/oranglautsg

Hamzah Mohamad, a 71-year-old Singaporean fisherman, speaking in an interview at West Coast Park about his trade and life as a former islander. Photo: Jean Iau

Storage tanks and oil refineries on Jurong Island. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Sunday the island had shaped Singapore’s economy for over 50 years. Photo: Reuters.

Hamzah Mohamad shows his bubu traps, traditional fishing devices he uses for his catch. Photo: Jean Iau

More Malaysian scammers target Singapore-based victims to pass cash, gold to ‘mules’

A poster in Singapore’s Raffles Place warning the public of scam threats. Photo: AFP

A customer withdraws Singapore dollar notes from an ATM. Singapore police say there have been more cases of Malaysians travelling to the city state to collect cash and valuables from scam victims. Photo: AFP

Vehicles travelling from Malaysia’s Johor state to the Woodlands immigration checkpoint in Singapore. More scam syndicates are relying on “mules” to collect money from victims in Singapore. Photo: AFP

Can Singapore’s cyber laws keep pace with speed of borderless online threats?

Singapore’s central business district. The city state has a tailored and multilayered system to deal with misinformation and inflammatory online material. Photo: Reuters

Fugitive Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui in November 2018. Singapore last year ordered social media sites to block accounts linked to Guo. Photo: TNS

A smartphone with social media apps. Monitoring a vast amount of content and addressing issues in a timely manner is a resource-intensive obligation for tech companies, observers say. Photo: Shutterstock

A man uses his smartphone in Ho Chi Minh City in December 2024. Vietnam’s cybersecurity decree compels tech firms in the country to store user data and take down content deemed “illegal” within a day. Photo: AFP

Analysts have called for a regional framework and improved public literacy to reduce the harmful impacts of cyberthreats. Photo: Shutterstock

Singapore to consider caning as punishment for serious scam offences

The Merlion statue spouts water at a park with the background of a business district in Singapore. Photo: AP

This Week in Asia

Lifestyle & Culture

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

The new rules shift more responsibility to messaging platforms, in a move analysts say could become a regional model


The new rules shift more responsibility to messaging platforms, in a move analysts say could become a regional model.


Scams and swindles

Crime

Singapore Police Force

Meta Platforms

Can Singapore’s new anti-scam rules help stop online fraud before it occurs?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The new rules shift more responsibility to messaging platforms, in a move analysts say could become a regional model

The new rules shift more responsibility to messaging platforms, in a move analysts say could become a regional model