Police, banks alert almost 10k potential scam victims
The police’s Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) and six banks have alerted more than 9,810 bank customers to prevent the loss of over $47 million.
In a statement on July 5, the police said they had partnered with DBS Bank, UOB, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC, and GXS Bank for the coordinated operation, which took place for two months between May 1 and June 30.
During this time, ASC officers and the partnering banks sent more than 13,984 SMSes to over 9,810 potential scam victims who were customers of the banks.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technology was used in the coordinated operation to detect potential victims of job, investment, fake friend call and e-commerce scams. RPA technology uses bots or artificial intelligence to analyse data to identify patterns, anomalies and trends that may indicate fraud. This technology streamlined the processing and sharing of information, the police said.
Once suspicious activity was detected, the police and banks were able to quickly intervene and notify the receivers through text messages so that they could cease further monetary transfers. The early detection of potential scam victims resulted in the successful disruption of more than 2,805 ongoing scams.
The police encouraged the public to protect themselves against scams by adding security features such as two-factor authentication on their electronic devices and banking apps, checking for signs of scams and informing the authorities and others about any ongoing scams.
“If it is too good to be true, it is probably untrue, and a scam,” the police said.
For more information on scams, the public can visit scamalert.sg or contact the Anti-Scam Hotline on 1800-722-6688. To report scam-related information, individuals can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit details online at police.gov.sg/iwitness, with the assurance of confidentiality.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now