Impersonation Scams Rampant on Facebook, Meta Faces Potential Million Fine in Singapore

On Wednesday, Singapore announced it will order Meta, the operator of several popular social media platforms, to act against fraudsters impersonating government officials.

In recent years, impersonation scams have caused significant financial losses to Singaporeans. In the first half of this year, such fraud cases surged by 200% compared to the same period last year, reaching 1,760. Meanwhile, victims' losses rose by 90% to S$126 million.

Among various social media platforms, Facebook, owned by Meta, has been the top one for such fraudulent activities. Singapore's Minister of State for Home Affairs Goh Pei Ming, revealed that Meta could face fines of up to S$1 million if it fails to take measures to curb the scams.

In a recent scam uncovered by authorities, fraudsters used deepfake technology to impersonate Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to promote fake cryptocurrency investment schemes.

Singapore's police will require Meta to address fraudulent advertisements, accounts, profiles, and business pages impersonating officials on Facebook. This marks the first time police have taken action against an online platform to combat fraud.

Meta stated that impersonating public figures or posting such fraudulent advertisements violates platform policies, and such content will be removed upon discovery.

BrokersView reminds you

In various impersonation scams, fraudsters often exploit people's trust in public figures and pretend to offer investment advice, luring victims to fake trading platforms.

To deceive the public, they frequently use artificial intelligence technology to create fake audio and video.

If you've seen similar scams on social media, you can help other investors avoid being scammed by exposing them through BrokersView.