Committee of Supply 2024 debate, Day 2: Sun Xueling on war against scams
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will introduce offences to deter the misuse of local SIM cards for scams and other criminal activities. This is because more scammers are using such cards to make scam calls and send SMSes, bypassing the blocking of overseas numbers. The move was announced by Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling in Parliament on Thursday (Feb 29). She added that the ScamShield app will be enhanced to improve the accuracy of scam SMS detection and allow users to more easily report scams. Meanwhile, a “one-stop portal” will be launched later this year, consolidating anti-scam resources for the public. There will be information on the latest scam trends, preventive measures to take and what people can do if they think they have been scammed. Ms Sun said the Government is studying additional measures “to better protect unwitting members of the public”, including those who refuse to believe they are being scammed. She also called out social media giant Meta for repeatedly refusing to have safeguards to tackle scams on its platforms. These include verifying users against Government-issued identification documents and offering a secured payment option for Facebook Marketplace users. And that is despite Facebook contributing close to half of the e-commerce scam cases last year. Other platforms such as Shopee and Carousell have worked with MHA and the police to strengthen their user verification processes. Ms Sun urged Meta “to step up, to do right by your users”.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will introduce offences to deter the misuse of local SIM cards for scams and other criminal activities. This is because more scammers are using such cards to make scam calls and send SMSes, bypassing the blocking of overseas numbers. The move was announced by Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling in Parliament on Thursday (Feb 29). She added that the ScamShield app will be enhanced to improve the accuracy of scam SMS detection and allow users to more easily report scams. Meanwhile, a “one-stop portal” will be launched later this year, consolidating anti-scam resources for the public. There will be information on the latest scam trends, preventive measures to take and what people can do if they think they have been scammed. Ms Sun said the Government is studying additional measures “to better protect unwitting members of the public”, including those who refuse to believe they are being scammed. She also called out social media giant Meta for repeatedly refusing to have safeguards to tackle scams on its platforms. These include verifying users against Government-issued identification documents and offering a secured payment option for Facebook Marketplace users. And that is despite Facebook contributing close to half of the e-commerce scam cases last year. Other platforms such as Shopee and Carousell have worked with MHA and the police to strengthen their user verification processes. Ms Sun urged Meta “to step up, to do right by your users”.
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