Carousell joined Singapore’s Anti-Scam Centre and preempted a ticket-scam surge

Singapore recorded 46,563 scams in 2023, up nearly 50% from the previous year. Nearly 10,000 were e-commerce scams, and Meta’s platforms accounted for nearly half. Authorities ranked Facebook Marketplace last among six platforms for recommended safety measures and pushed online services toward stronger intervention.

Carousell placed a teammate at the police Anti-Scam Centre, alongside staff from banks and telecoms. The arrangement let police screen scam accounts in real time and improved the speed of platform takedowns. When the teammate saw an early rise in Taylor Swift ticket scams, Carousell suspended ticket sales for about two weeks in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan.

The change turned law-enforcement intelligence into a product control that could be applied quickly and reversed after the risk window. The article reports that the setup worked well for Carousell: it gave the platform a better read on an “unprecedented scale” of risk while strengthening its working relationship with police.

Real-time scam screening, faster account and listing takedowns, and an early-warning channel that enabled a two-week ticket-sales pause across six markets.

Scam accounts and listings could spread faster than normal platform review.

The Anti-Scam Centre put police, platforms, banks, and telecoms in one real-time loop.

Early warning before concert dates made a temporary, category-specific pause proportionate.

Carousell could act on risk intelligence without imposing a permanent ban on its marketplace.

When fraud moves faster than a moderation queue, put platform staff inside the enforcement loop: shared signals and a reversible category pause can beat broad promises to police everything.

At the time of the report, Carousell and Shopee had deployed staff to the Anti-Scam Centre, and Singapore authorities were considering whether such deployments should become mandatory. Carousell’s two-week ticket pause covered six markets. The government was also considering identity verification for risky Marketplace sellers, showing how the pilot sat inside a broader shift toward platform accountability.