Online marketplace Carousell plans to use new technology to identify and block fraudsters.

The platform will adapt digital fingerprinting technology to prevent repeat fraudsters from creating new accounts to cheat users. It identifies a fraudster’s “digital persona”, picking out a set of digital signals that fraudsters leave behind on the internet, singling them out when they try to create a new account.

The platform will also launch a feedback system allowing buyers to review sellers, so customers can have a better idea of vendors’ behaviour.

According to a Singapore police report, Carousell is reported to have hosted the most e-commerce scams among 2125 cases last year. While the platform denied the statistics, it says its fraud rate “has fallen by 44 per cent from the first quarter of last year”.

In the last three months of last year only about three in 10,000 transactions were fraudulent, according to Carousell’s VP of operations, Tan Su Lin.

Tan added that the company has taken measures to prevent fraud over the past year.

The payment system Caroupay was launched last year to keep a buyer’s payment and only release to the seller when both parties are satisfied with the transaction.

“Taking heart from the fact that our efforts have produced really good results, we’re … doing more,” Tan added.