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Singapore says Shopee safe as Amazon against scams. Carousell, Facebook Marketplace rank worst

  • Shopee has joined Amazon, Lazada and Qoo10 at the top of the Singapore’s anti-scam rankings, the city state’s home affairs ministry said on Wednesday
  • Carousell and Facebook Marketplace, meanwhile, have remained in the bottom two tiers of the ratings since they were first launched in May 2022

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A woman uses the Shopee app on her smartphone at the company’s headquarters in Singapore. photo: Bloomberg
TODAY
Singapore e-commerce giant Shopee has risen to the top of official rankings for its security measures to tackle e-commerce scams for the first time, the city state’s Ministry of Home Affairs said on Wednesday, while Carousell and Facebook Marketplace remained at the lowest tier in the ratings.
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The ministry said Shopee had implemented all important safety features over the past year that were required for it to join three other platforms – Amazon, Lazada and Qoo10 – at the top rung of the Inter-Ministry Committee on Scams’ E-commerce Marketplace Transaction Safety Ratings.

Carousell and Facebook Marketplace, meanwhile, have remained in the bottom two tiers of the ratings since they were first launched in May 2022.

The latest update to the safety ratings come after Meta, which owns Facebook, was singled out for refusing to cooperate – and consistently pushing back against the ministry’s recommendations to combat scams – by Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling during a budget debate in parliament on February 29.

The ratings, which are refreshed annually, seek to provide consumers with information on the anti-scam measures implemented by e-commerce platforms operating in Singapore.

The overall safety rating assigned to each platform indicates the extent measures critical to guard against scams have been implemented, based on the authenticity of users, transaction safety, availability of loss remediation channels for consumers, and the effectiveness of anti-scam measures.

Singapore’s Home Affairs Ministry said Shopee’s anti-scam rating improved from three to four ticks this year. Photo: Shutterstock
Singapore’s Home Affairs Ministry said Shopee’s anti-scam rating improved from three to four ticks this year. Photo: Shutterstock

The ratings range from one to four ticks, with four being the highest. The top rating is awarded to platforms that implement all critical anti-scam features, resulting in a low number of reported scams.

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