The Scams (Countermeasures) and Other Matters Bill (“Bill“) was introduced for First Reading in Parliament on 4 August 2026, and was passed on 9 September 2026. The Bill seeks to amend Singapore’s legislative framework against scams (including the Protection from Scams Act 2025 and the Online Criminal Harms Act 2023 (“OCHA“)) to strengthen the tools to detect, disrupt and deter scams.
The key measures introduced in the Bill include the following:
- Information exchange between the Police and service providers: The Bill seeks to enable the exchange of scam-related information between the Police and service providers through the National Scams List and other platforms, and to support the disabling of accounts where required. The Police will be empowered to issue the following orders:
Disclosure Orders requiring service providers to provide information relating to specified accounts and scam-related activities; and
- Account Disabling Orders requiring service providers to disable accounts for up to 30 days (subject to extension).
- Facility Restriction Framework: The Facility Restriction Framework allows for the imposition of restrictions on access to financial, telecommunications and/or Singpass services for scam mules. To strengthen the framework, the Police will be empowered to issue a Service Limitation Order requiring a service provider to restrict the provision of services to a person for the purpose of countering scams-related offences.
- Misuse of online accounts: The Bill introduces new offences to deter the misuse of online accounts for scams:
Unlawful provision of personal information for the registration of online accounts for criminal activity;
Possession of online accounts registered using another person’s personal information for criminal activity;
Supplying of online accounts for criminal activity; and
- Receiving of online accounts for criminal activity.
- Enhancing the OCHA: The OCHA allows the Police to issue directions requiring online service providers to take down scam-related content, and to publish Codes of Practice (“COPs“) and Implementation Directives (“IDs“) requiring designated online service providers to put in place anti-scam measures. The Bill amends the OCHA to:
allow OCHA directions to be issued using a computer programme, including those leveraging artificial intelligence or machine learning technologies; and
- introduce financial penalties for non-compliance with the OCHA COPs and IDs (up to S$10 million) and create criminal offences for non-compliance with relevant notices and orders.
Click on the following link for more information:
- Ministry of Home Affairs (“MHA“) Press Release titled “First reading of the Scams (Countermeasures) and Other Matters Bill” (available on the MHA website at www.mha.gov.sg)
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