MHA proposes giving police powers to order banks, telcos to share information, disable scam-linked accounts
Under the Bill, higher fines may also be imposed on designated service providers who do not comply with the Online Criminal Harms Act.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has proposed granting police the authority to order service providers to divulge information on scam-related activities and disable accounts facilitating such offenses. The Online Criminal Harms Act (OCHA) is being updated, with penalties for non-compliance potentially reaching S$10 million. Scams in Singapore have seen a 27.6% decrease in 2025, yet the police maintain the situation remains "very concerning."
Over 7,000 suspected money mules and scam-related cases were investigated last year. Scammers often utilize accounts provided by various service providers, including banks, telcos, and online platforms. The proposed legislation aims to enhance information sharing between service providers and the police to more effectively detect and disrupt scams.
The Ministry has also unveiled a platform, the National Scams List, to facilitate this exchange. Additionally, the Bill seeks to strengthen the government's facility restriction framework, which imposes restrictions on scam mules' access to financial, telecommunications, and Singpass services. The framework, introduced in October 2024, has already resulted in the restriction of 1,423 money mules, 1,439 SIM card mules, and 53 corporate mules.
The Bill proposes to introduce new offences for the misuse of SIM cards, Singpass, and bank accounts, as well as online accounts from designated service providers such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat, TikTok, Carousell, Google, and Apple.
Written by urgent.news from Channel News Asia's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
