It has been a while that Singapore declared a fight against fake news but still many false information and fake posts are being shared on social media platforms. On Sunday, the Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat warned of a scam that falsely uses his picture in a Facebook post.
Along with the picture of the DPM and current Finance Minister Heng, the post mentioned that "You can take a HUGE advantage of this program," while the title of the news reads, "The Nation Says Goodbye to Finance..."
Heng mentioned that "It is obviously fake news" and he lodged a police complaint. In his post, the minister also stated that he came across "another one of these scams while the link reproduced a Straits Times article word for word, it carries a false headline, and the Facebook post is heavily misleading."
He said there have been similar unreliable websites that misuse the names and pictures of ministers, as well as well-known personalities.
He advised the social media users and the members of the public to be wary of such posts from dubious sources and avoid any kind of engagement with these fraudulent posts "especially when they ask for any personal information such as emails, passwords, or credit card information."
DPM Seng also asked people to inform the police if they suspect that "an investment could be fraudulent or misused for other unlawful activities."
"I strongly urge everyone to be careful online and remain vigilant against such scams," he further added.
It should be noted that a few months ago the country passed an anti-fake news law that gives authorities sweeping powers to investigate online platforms and even private chat groups. As reported earlier the government can order platforms to remove what they describe as false statements that are "against the public interest."
While the authorities stated that this bill actually protects the Singaporeans from fake news, the critics said that this law poses a serious threat to civil liberties.
