Carousell to implement enhanced verification amid spike in scams via verified accounts: MHA

Online marketplace Carousell will be implementing enhanced safeguards by Jan 31, 2026, to prevent the misuse of verified accounts for scams, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday (Nov 21).

It said that the need for additional safeguards comes amid an increasing number of e-commerce scams perpetrated by scammers using Singpass-verified Carousell accounts.

To enhance security, the popular online marketplace has committed to improving authentication processes and suspending accounts detected to have been relinquished to scammers.

It will also blacklist Singpass credentials used to verify suspended scam accounts from verifying new accounts.

Under the e-commerce code of the Online Criminal Harms Act, Carousell was previously required to conduct enhanced verification on selected high-risk sellers and advertisers between July 1 and Dec 31, 2024, with the pilot subsequently extended to June 30, 2025.

The ministry said the total number of reported scams on Carousell decreased by about 36 per cent between April and June 2025 from the same period last year.

Investigations by the police found that scammers increasingly managed to gain access to Singpass-verified Carousell accounts — by malicious means, purchasing verified accounts or by using stolen Singpass credentials — to perpetrate scams.

As such, Carousell has committed to enhancing its verification methods and will have to implement them by Jan 31, 2026.

"MHA will continue to monitor the effectiveness of Carousell's measures in reducing the number of e-commerce scams," it said, adding that it will direct Carousell to implement additional measures if necessary.

The ministry also said that it is considering legislating new offences to better act against users who wilfully relinquish Singpass-verified online accounts for criminal purposes.

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dana.leong@asiaone.com