CRIMINAL CASES INVOLVING USE OF INSTANT MESSAGING SERVICES BY COMPANIES NOT REGISTERED IN SINGAPORE

It is bad enough for person to fall victim to a scam that was facilitated by a instant messaging platform. It is worse for the platform in question not to cooperate with our law enforcement agencies to identify the perpetrators and bring them to book.

I asked the Minister for Home Affairs for the number of cases that involve the use of instant messaging platforms owned by companies outside Singapore in the recent past and the level of cooperation amongst these companies. The Minister informed that whilst WhatsApp and WeChat are generally cooperative, Telegram is less so.

I think fellow Singaporeans should take note of this in deciding whether or not to believe invitations and messages received through these platforms. My parliamentary question and Minister Shanmugam’s response are set out below.

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Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for Home Affairs over the past three years (a) how many criminal cases investigated by the Singapore Police Force and Central Narcotics Bureau involved the use of instant messaging services by companies which do not have registered businesses in Singapore; (b) whether these overseas companies generally cooperated with enforcement authorities in investigations; and (c) what are the identities of uncooperative companies, if any.

Mr K Shanmugam: The Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) keep track of scam and drug cases respectively that involve the use of instant messaging services, but not for all criminal cases.

From January 2021 to November 2023, about 24,000 scam cases which involved the use of instant messaging services were reported to SPF. More than 95% of these cases involved the use of WhatsApp, Telegram and WeChat.

In the same period, CNB investigated about 600 suspected drug offenders who used Telegram to conduct drug transactions.

WhatsApp and WeChat are generally cooperative. Telegram, on the other hand, is less so.

We will continue to engage and work with instant messaging services and other social media platforms to tackle crimes in Singapore.