Posted by Trust and safety of our users is our key priority. Carousell has continually been enhancing our safety measures with the latest technology to keep pace with the fast-changing global scam landscape.
The Online Criminal Harms Act and its Codes of Practice are key steps to regulate malicious cyber activities. Carousell’s existing measures are already largely in line with the Code of Practice for E-Commerce Services in varying measures. We have been in consultation with MHA over the past year on how to formalise or operationalise certain measures to better fit our unique position as a predominantly peer-to-peer classifieds marketplace where most of our users are casual sellers and buyers.
For instance, we have implemented Singpass verification checks in high-risk categories such as Property and Tickets & Vouchers last year to mitigate scams. While we do not have plans to make it mandatory for all users, we will be deploying Singpass verification checks in a more targeted approach for high-risk scenarios from late June, so as to balance user safety with user experience. This means that should our AI system detect behaviour similar to known scam patterns or policy violations, the user will receive a notification to verify their identity to continue using our platform.
Additionally, as part of Carousell’s ongoing efforts to keep our users safe, we have also published a Safety Policy on our Help Centre to better educate our users on risky behaviours on the platform, such as paying directly to the seller before receiving the item. We will be rolling out the enforcement of the Safety Policy in phases across different sub-categories in the coming months.
There is a need to balance strict policies for trust and safety without compromising on providing a convenient selling and buying experience for everyone, hence we will continue to implement additional measures and processes in a tailored approach.