Singapore Forces TikTok and Meta to Verify Ads After…

Singapore is implementing strict new regulations for social media platforms to curb a rise in deepfake-driven investment fraud. By January 31, 2027, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok must verify advertisers against government-issued records and ensure financial-services ads are authorized by the Monetary Authority of Singapore or equivalent authorities. This mandate, issued by the Singapore Police Force under the Online Criminal Harms Act, aims to hold platforms accountable for the paid content that facilitates these scams.

What happened

Scammers have utilized a sophisticated infrastructure of paid ads, fake news pages, and redirect domains to impersonate public figures and mainstream news outlets. Research from Group-IB and reports from CNA highlight how these campaigns use deepfake videos of figures like Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and ministers Indranee Rajah and K. Shanmugam to build credibility. In one particularly severe case, a victim lost S$4.9 million after being deceived by a fake Zoom meeting featuring deepfakes of senior officials and representatives from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The fraudulent ecosystem often involves "URL cloaking" and malicious sites that mimic reputable news organizations like CNA or Yahoo News. Beyond politics, entertainment figures including Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, and Rihanna have been featured in AI-manipulated clips on TikTok to promote potentially malicious services. While some of these deepfakes exhibit technical flaws—such as mismatched lip movements or distorted backgrounds—they are often effective enough to bypass initial scrutiny. By forcing platforms to verify the identity of those purchasing ad space, Singapore aims to dismantle the infrastructure that allows these coordinated fraud campaigns to target local users.