SINGAPORE, March 10 -- The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is ramping up its efforts to combat online scams by requiring advertisers and selected e-commerce sellers to verify their identities against government-issued records.

Under the E-Commerce Code of the Online Criminal Harms Act (OCHA), digital platforms such as Carousell and Meta's Facebook Marketplace and Advertisements have been piloting identity verification measures for six months.

Following the trial period, the government has decided to extend Carousell's assessment period until June 2025, while allowing Facebook Marketplace to continue verifying only selected sellers rather than all users.

"The industry must eliminate money worship, extravagance, and excessive speculation,...