Worldcoin Account Sales Under Investigation In Singapore Over Security Risk

Key Points:

• Singapore police are investigating seven individuals for trading Worldcoin account sales.
• Authorities have warned the public against Worldcoin account sales due to risks of misuse for illegal activities like money laundering.

Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister, Gan Kim Yong, said on Monday that police are investigating seven individuals suspected of trading in Worldcoin account sales.

Singapore Investigates Breach Related to Worldcoin Account Sales

The investigation comes after possible breaches were raised regarding the Payment Services Act 2019.

Kim Yong made it clear that while Worldcoin itself was not a kind of payment service under the PS Act, those who joins in Worldcoin account sales as business would be in possible violation of the Act. The investigation is supposed to deal with such violations.

On August 7, 2024, police issued a public advisory cautioning against the selling or parting with their Worldcoin accounts. It says such action might make the facility be used by criminals for activities that are illegal, like money laundering and financing terrorism. The advisory underlines the need for vigilance regarding offers that involve transferring control of digital payment WLD tokens or World IDs.

In a similar incident, the Singapore Police Force arrested five suspects last month who were thought to be involved in Worldcoin account sales. Preliminary investigations indicated that three of the suspects had recruited several people to create Worldcoin accounts they then took over after compensating them in cash. The accounts and tokens were handled by the other two suspects. Over 200 mobile phones were seized as evidence following the police action.

Worldcoin Under Pressure Over Privacy from Around the World

Worldcoin’s growth has also been questioned beyond Singapore. The Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision recently examined the platform in Germany in terms of its practices relating to biometric data.

Similarly, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data in Hong Kong has also ruled that Worldcoin has violated local privacy laws, with a consequent suspension of its services. The cryptocurrency has also temporarily suspended its operations in Spain due to regulatory issues.

Despite this, Worldcoin makes efforts toward compliance with local regulations on privacy. In Malaysia, personal identification using the controversial iris-scanning technology of the platform was accepted only recently.