Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong announced that Singapore police are investigating seven more individuals suspected of ‘illegally’ providing sales of Worldcoin accounts and tokens.
These seven individuals were allegedly illegally selling Worldcoin tokens and violated the 2019 Payment Services (PS) Act, under which, Worldcoin ‘does not perform a payment service’.
Yong has asked users to stay alert if anyone offers to take over authority of their digital payment token wallets or World IDs as these accounts can be misused by malicious third parties.
Stressing over Worldcoin’s data privacy issues, Yong stated, “Organisations that handle such data, including biometric data, must ensure they put in place the necessary data protection and security arrangements to address the risks involved, when designing and operating their systems and processes.”
Deputy PM answered queries over the Worldcoin case in his response to the question raised by “Miss Rachel Ong in Order Paper, and Mr Derrick Goh’s filed for the sitting on or after 10 September”.
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Tools for Humanity, a contributor to Worldcoin has reached out to CryptonewsZ with a clarification, “Neither Worldcoin nor Tools for Humanity are under investigation by police in Singapore. Individuals being investigated by authorities for possible violation of the Payment Services Act are not affiliated with Worldcoin or its operations in any way. The Worldcoin Foundation in Singapore, and around the world, operates in compliance with relevant laws and regulations pertaining to all aspects of the Worldcoin project including the Payment Services Act in Singapore. Any reports or speculation to the contrary are false and misleading.”
In August, Singapore Police Force had arrested five people(four men and one woman) for allegedly offering a service of buying or selling Worldcoin accounts and tokens and carrying out a scam.
Three suspects disguised themselves as recruiters on behalf of various third parties to recruit individuals and sign them up for Worldcoin accounts, before taking over the accounts and tokens in exchange for cash.
The other two suspects then took over these accounts and Worldcoin tokens and helped with the delivery of the Worldcoin accounts and Worldcoin tokens. During the investigation, more than 200 mobile phones were seized as evidence.
Since its launch in July 2023, Worldcoin has been hammered by several regulatory bodies for concerns over its use of biometric data and financial regulations.
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Note: The report first posted on Sept 10, has been updated and includes clarification from Tools for Humanity- a contributor of Worldcoin.
