SINGAPORE – Amid a global shortage of the PlayStation 5 (PS5) in late 2021, Adam (not his real name) turned to online marketplace Carousell to buy the gaming console.

The seller he found on the platform, called @jennic.tech, was verified by Carousell and had more than 100 reviews.

After checking with a friend of his whose sister had posted a positive review for @jennic.tech, Adam transferred $1,067 to the seller via PayNow for the console and three controllers.

Little did Adam know at the time that the seller was recalcitrant scammer Nicholas Ong Chang Hui.

On May 23, Ong was sentenced to 23 months and six weeks’ jail for cheating 128 people of close to $148,000 on Carousell, while he was still making restitution to 13 other earlier victims on the same platform.

Adam, 29, who works in the tech sector, said: “The fact that he could still obtain a verified tick after being caught once for scamming other folks online is absolutely unbelievable.”

Months after Adam transferred the money, Ong said in a Telegram group chat that he was being investigated by Commercial Affairs Department officers.

Adam and other victims The Straits Times spoke to never got their money back. Two victims said they trusted @jennic.tech as the account had good reviews and was selling the PS5 at close to the market rate.

Responding to ST’s queries in June, Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) president Melvin Yong, who is also the MP for Radin Mas, called on Carousell to step up efforts to protect the interests of consumers who transact on its platform.

Case has also called on the Government to enhance consumer protection by making it mandatory for platforms to have seller verification and to hold payments in escrow until the buyer confirms he has received the item.

A Ministry of Home Affairs spokesman told ST that the ministry has been working closely with the e-commerce industry to identify safety features to safeguard online transactions and protect consumers from scams.

This includes having user verification with government-issued IDs such as NRICs and secured payment features like escrow.

Industry guidelines set up by Enterprise Singapore and the Singapore Standards Council were amended in May 2022 to encourage the use of user authentication and secured payment features. However, they are not legally binding.

On Carousell, a user receives the verified badge when he completes all three required verification methods: Singpass identity verification, phone verification and e-mail verification.

The police said that they share details of accounts believed to be involved in scams with e-commerce platforms.

Carousell confirmed that Ong used a separate account in the scam involving 128 victims from the one he used for the 13 earlier victims. It is not clear if Ong’s earlier account was verified.

A Carousell spokesman said: “We noted that he had made over 100 successful transactions with the @jennic.tech account on Carousell before suddenly not being able to fulfil his orders.”

The account has since been banned.

The spokesman said Carousell uses a mix of data points to check if a new account is created by a user who was previously suspended or banned. “However, as we do not require NRIC to register for an account, we cannot conclusively determine the user’s identity.”

The spokesman added that requiring users to do mandatory checks using NRIC is a high barrier to entry for its users, many of whom are casual sellers and buyers transacting or giving away pre-owned, and often low-value, items.

“A significant proportion of users we polled earlier this year have indicated that they would not be amenable to it,” said the spokesman, adding that Carousell is currently exploring options of when to deploy such checks for high-risk transactions such as property listings.

The spokesman said that buyers should also use its on-platform payment system, where Carousell holds payments in escrow. But this is not mandatory for users.

Mr Yong said: “E-marketplaces have a responsibility to ensure that they have safeguards in place to protect the interests of consumers who transact on their platforms.”

He added that marketplaces charge platform fees and commissions, and are expected to verify and authenticate the credentials of sellers.

The Carousell spokesman noted that unlike other platforms, Carousell is a consumer-to-consumer marketplace where transactions take place between people. “As such, there are more variables to safeguard against as compared to that of a business-to-consumer marketplace.”

In 2022, the police said there was a 74.5 per cent increase in e-commerce scams, from 2,729 cases in 2021 to 4,762 cases. The total amount victims were reported to have been cheated of rose to at least $21.3 million in 2022, from at least $5.9 million in 2021.

In 2022, the Inter-Ministry Committee on Scams introduced a safety rating system for e-commerce marketplaces to guide the public on which platforms are safer.

In the ratings updated in May 2023, Facebook Marketplace was ranked at the bottom with one tick, the poorest rating, followed by Carousell (two ticks), Shopee (three ticks), and Amazon, Lazada and Qoo10, which received the maximum four ticks.

Lazada and Shopee said that their platforms require sellers to verify their identities using government-issued documents. Both platforms also use escrow payment methods, where payments are released to sellers only after a specified period or after buyers confirm they have received their orders.

Anyone with information relating to such crimes or in doubt can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000, or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness

For more information on scams, visit scamalert.sg or call the anti-scam hotline on 1800-722-6688.