Singapore orders Meta to target scammers impersonating government office-holders by Sept 30
Source: Straits Times
Article Date: 26 Sep 2025
Author: David Sun
On Sept 24, Meta was issued an implementation directive under the Online Criminal Harms Act.
The police have issued an order to Meta to target scammers impersonating government office-holders on Facebook.
On Sept 24, Meta was issued an implementation directive under the Online Criminal Harms Act (Ocha).
The parent company of Facebook is required to implement measures to target scam advertisements, accounts, profiles and business pages impersonating key government office-holders on the social media platform.
It must comply with the directive by Sept 30, or risk a fine of up to $1 million. On top of this, in the case of a continuing offence, it can be fined up to $100,000 daily.
This is the first time such an order has been issued by the police to an online platform to tackle scams.
Ocha, which allows the Government to remove criminal content online, came into force in February 2024.
In a release on Sept 25, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that from June 2024 to June 2025, there has been an increase in the number of scammers exploiting Facebook to run impersonation scams using videos or images of key government office-holders in fake advertisements, accounts, profiles and business pages.
It added that the police disrupted about 2,000 such advertisements and online monikers on Facebook in the period.
MHA said: “Facebook is the top platform used by scammers to commit such impersonation scams. Stemming the proliferation of such impersonation scams is critical to protect the public from harm and uphold trust in our Government and public institutions.”
MHA added that while Meta has taken some steps to address the risk of impersonation scams globally, the authorities remain concerned by the prevalence of such scams in Singapore.
The directive requires Meta to implement enhanced facial recognition measures in Singapore and to prioritise review of end-user reports from Singapore, to reduce scam advertisements, accounts, profiles and business pages impersonating key government office-holders in Singapore.
Several accounts or posts on Facebook impersonating Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and former defence minister Ng Eng Hen popped up in 2025.
PM Wong warned the public in March against fake Facebook advertisements using deepfakes or his images to sell cryptocurrency, money-making schemes or permanent resident application services.
Police mid-year statistics showed government official impersonation scams have almost tripled, with 1,762 cases reported in the first half of 2025 compared with 589 over the same period in 2024.
Victims lost $126.5 million in the first six months of 2025, almost double the $67.2 million in the first half of 2024.
MHA said the police will work with Meta to use its global impersonation protection measures to support other influential public figures in Singapore who may be at risk of being impersonated by scammers.
The authorities are also considering imposing similar requirements on other online platforms, with more details to be announced later.
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.
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