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

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.The Singapore-police-force" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="39735" data-entity-type="organization">Singapore Police Force 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.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