Meta to work with Singapore banks in sharing intelligence to combat scams
Social media company Meta is aiming to roll out a shared intelligence platform with local banks in Singapore to combat the scam scourge.
This comes as it looks to form a closer partnership with the Republic's law enforcement agencies to dismantle scam syndicates.
First unveiled in the United Kingdom and Australia in 2024, Meta's Fraud Intelligence Reciprocal Exchange (Fire) is a platform that allows banks to share threat intelligence with the firm directly.
Speaking to the media on June 12, Meta's Singapore and Asean head of public policy Clara Koh said the firm is ready to roll out the programme globally through an industry consortium - the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Centre.
She said that currently, Meta's customers who become victims of scams on its platforms have to report their experience to the firm.
With Fire, Meta - the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp - will also be able to receive intelligence on scammers or victims from banks.
Ms Koh said the platform allows Meta to analyse data and remove the scammers' ability to commit crimes.
"But at the same time, we use the signals and patterns or behaviours of the actors to help our machine learning and artificial intelligence actually better detect the bad actors.
"So yes, we are working with a few local banks to try and get them onboarded into the programme," she added.
She said more details will be shared at a later date.
During a six-month pilot with UK banks NatWest and Metro Bank, Meta was able to remove some 20,000 accounts run by scammers from 185 website addresses shared by the banks.
Ms Koh was one of the panellists at an anti-scam awareness event organised by Meta on June 12 at the firm's office at Marina One.
The panel also included the Singapore Police Force's Superintendent Rosie Ann McIntyre, who is assistant director of the Scam Public Education Office's operations department, and the National Crime Prevention Council's Mr Nicholas Khoo.
(From left) The National Crime Prevention Council's Mr Nicholas Khoo, police Superintendent Rosie Ann McIntyre and Meta's Singapore and Asean head of policy Clara Koh at the Inside a Scammer's Mind event on June 12. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
During the discussion, Supt McIntyre said that people should not be fearful if an unknown person is attempting to call or reach them through e-mail.
Instead, it is important to slow down and assess the situation.
"The important thing is not to respond immediately, not to transfer money, because once it's out, it's out. The important thing is not to click a link," said Supt McIntyre.
In 2024, victims in Singapore lost a record high $1.1 billion to scams. In total, victims here have lost more than $3.4 billion to scams since 2019.
The most common ruse in 2024 was e-commerce scams, which include concert ticket scams, with 11,665 reported cases and victims losing at least $17.5 million in total.
Job scams and phishing scams rounded out the top three scam variants of concern in 2024. Some $156.2 million was lost to job scams, while victims of phishing scams lost $59.4 million across 2024.
Ms Koh said that some scams - such as ticketing scams linked to big events like mega concerts or summits - can be anticipated, which means the authorities can prepare against a spike in fraud attempts ahead of time.
During a six-month pilot with UK banks NatWest and Metro Bank, Meta was able to remove some 20,000 accounts run by scammers from 185 website addresses shared by the banks. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
But others are difficult to predict. Most scams, like love scams or impersonation scams, are evergreen, which make it challenging to get ahead of, Ms Koh said.
"You don't know how (scams) are going to evolve over time, but they evolve extremely quickly within days. Once you try and arrest a particular variant, it pivots and evolves into something else," she added.
She said Meta is also committed to fighting the scam scourge beyond just its online platforms - highlighting the human trafficking cost that comes with scam compounds run by organised crime.
"As a platform, we want to do our best to tackle the issue as it manifests... but I think equally, we also want to take real-world action on the actual criminal syndicates that are operating these (compounds)," she said.
"So we can do our part but, at the same time, we really need different segments of the ecosystem and society to work with us on the same side to really fight this scourge."
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