Singapore gives Meta Sept 30 deadline on govt impersonator scams

Singapore: Singapore said on Thursday it had given Meta until September 30 to clamp down on the growing number of scammers pretending to be government...

Singapore: Singapore said on Thursday it had given Meta until September 30 to clamp down on the growing number of scammers pretending to be government officials or face hefty fines.

Meta's Facebook is the top platform used by fraudsters to carry out the scams, which have cost victims tens of millions of dollars, according to the city-state's government.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the police issued a directive to Meta "to put in place measures to target scam advertisements, accounts, profiles, and/or business pages impersonating key Government Office Holders on Facebook" by September 30.

Failure to comply "without reasonable excuse would render Meta liable on conviction to a fine" of up to Sg$1.0 million (US$776,000), the MHA said.

Non-compliance after the deadline will subject Meta to a further fine of up to Sg$100,000 "for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction", it said.