Carousell has shut down accounts and removed fake listings selling public institutions, private establishments, and bits and pieces of Singapore, including the prime minister for millions and billions of dollars.
The Singapore startup told media it had already removed the fake listings that were put up in December 2020.
However, Carousell did not mention when it removed the fake and troll ads.
Carousell said: “While we enjoy Singaporeans’ sense of humour, we’d like to take this chance to remind our users that in accordance with our listing rules, such listings are not allowed on our marketplace and have since been taken down.”
According to Carousell, artificial intelligence is used to detect offenders.
Users are not allowed to sell people, put up fake ads, or misprice their items, the platform added.
The purge was due to the listings violating Carousell's policy.
Listings put up on Instagram
Screen shots of the Carousell listings have been put up on Instagram as a joke.
The pricing on the listings were random.
They showed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong listed for S$5 million, while the Singapore Zoo was going for as low as S$600,000.
Marina Bay Sands was put up for S$37 million, while the Singapore Flyer was to be sold for S$1 million.
Parliament House and Changi Airport Terminal 3 were listed for S$900 billion each, while all of the airports were listed for S$56 billion.
Dee Kosh, former radio deejay and YouTube personality in hibernation, was put up for S$100.
Jurong East MRT was listed S$50,000 with the caption: "Whole mrt for sale, can drink and eat on board if you buy".
The whole of Singapore was priced at S$50 million.