Carousell launches MyInfo government database service to verify user profiles
SINGAPORE — Carousell has incorporated the government-run data service MyInfo on the online marketplace’s platform to enable verification of user profiles in a bid to combat scams.
MyInfo allows users to auto-fill online forms with their personal information, which is pulled from public agencies and saved in a central data bank.
Carousell is the first online classifieds service to partner Government Technology Agency (GovTech) in rolling out MyInfo. First rolled out in 2016 to government agencies, MyInfo was extended to the private sector - mainly banks - in 2017.
Speaking to reporters on the collaboration on Tuesday (2 July), Carousell’s Vice President of Operations Tan Su Lin described MyInfo as a “means to tackle the scam problem that is prevalent in the commerce space.”
“If you know who you are dealing with at least you feel you have a choice in who you want to transact with,” she added.
Previously, Carousell only allowed user verification via email, phone numbers and social media accounts. With MyInfo, users can verify their names, birthdates and addresses.
Those who wish to be verified through MyInfo can do so on their Carousell profile pages. After clicking on the verify button, users can log into their SingPass accounts to complete the verification. Carousell will then retrieve the user information from MyInfo. The users will then have a verified badge on their profiles.
The information would not be shared with other users and could be used in the event of criminal investigations.
Verification is not mandatory and users who are worried about privacy issues may choose to delink their profiles from their SingPass accounts.
When asked about the process being optional, Tan said that making verification compulsory would “threaten” the inclusivity of the marketplace.
“We still want to to give the choice to the buyer, to the seller, not to have to do this, because not everybody is super comfortable with having their details shared at this juncture.
“I think as a society we are still maturing in that aspect so we want to give that option to people and yet point people to the verified sellers,” said Tan, who added that unverified sellers were not “automatically” bad sellers.
There could be various reasons why users do not wish to be verified. “Maybe they feel like it is a hassle, maybe they are not comfortable with having more info (registered) with commercial parties,” she said.
In response to a question on whether there is a targeted rate of verification among users, Tan said Carousell is aiming for “as high as possible”, without specifying.
The collaboration with GovTech is Carousell’s latest effort to battle e-commerce scams.
For instance, Carousell has in place CarouPay, an option to allow users to have their money held by Carousell during transactions. The money is only disbursed when a seller and a buyer are satisfied with their transaction.
Carousell has also introduced Sift, a solution which detects suspicious online content such as fake accounts and payment fraud.
More recently, Carousell introduced digital fingerprinting technology to identify scammers’ digital features and prevent them from creating new accounts. It also launched a star rating system to allow users to rate their deal experiences.
According to a Carousell press release in February, its fraud rate had fallen by 44 per cent over the previous 12 months. By the fourth quarter of last year, the rate of fraud cases fell to around three in 10,000 transactions.
In the same month, the Singapore Police Force said that Carousell accounted for 70 per cent of e-commerce scams in 2018. The most common scams on the platform involved electronic products and tickets to events and attractions.
When asked about the number of scams, Tan said that “We are the single largest marketplace in Singapore, we have millions of transactions every year. If there were to be occurrences...you would expect the absolute number to occur on the largest marketplace.”
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