April 12, 2024, 05:12 PM
Shopee has come out tops in the 2024 edition of the E-commerce Marketplace Transaction Safety Ratings (TSR) on April 10, while Facebook Marketplace and Carousell ended up at the bottom.
Published by the Inter-Ministry Committee on Scams, the TSR evaluates the anti-scam features employed by six major e-commerce marketplaces, Amazon, Qoo10, Lazada, Shopee, Facebook Marketplace, and Carousell.
Shopee's ranking improves; other platforms stagnate
Shopee attained the highest possible rating of four ticks in the latest edition of the ratings, joining Amazon, Lazada, and Qoo10.
According to the statistics, the number of reported e-commerce scams on Shopee has fallen 65 per cent, from 311 cases in 2022 to 109 cases in 2023.
In the previous year's edition of the ratings, Shopee had attained three ticks.
Carousell and Facebook Marketplace retained their poorer ratings of two ticks and one tick, respectively.
In particular, Facebook Marketplace was the platform used in almost half of e-commerce scams reported in 2023.
How rankings were decided
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) website, each platform's safety rating is determined by whether they have implemented key security features, such as:
- Measures to verify seller authenticity.
- Measures to monitor fraudulent seller behaviour.
- Availability of secure payment options.
- Maintenance of transaction records and user data.
- Reporting and dispute resolution mechanisms.
Shopee, Qoo10, Lazada, and Amazon were given a four-tick rating as they were assessed to have implemented all the safety features.
In the case of Facebook Marketplace and Carousell, only "some" of the safety features were implemented, leading to their lower ratings.
Staying safe while e-shopping
E-commerce scams are a very common type of scam in Singapore.
MHA said that there were more than 2,700 cases reported in 2021.
Losses totalled around S$5.8 million.
The TSR was first launched in 2022, to help guide and safeguard consumers shopping online.
MHA said in its advisory that consumers can protect themselves against scams by only transacting with sellers with verified identities.
Where possible, they should only use secure payment options as well.
Consumers should also keep all transactions and communications with sellers within the platform, such that the platform can monitor and investigate any disputes.
Lastly, consumers can do their part against scams by promptly reporting any suspicious and fraudulent listings and sellers to the platforms.
Top photo via Singapore Science Park on Facebook
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