The Protection from Scams Bill, introduced by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), will empower the Singapore police to temporarily restrict banking transactions when they believe someone is about to be scammed.
This measure targets individuals who refuse to believe they are being scammed and will be used only as a last resort when other attempts to dissuade them have failed.
This includes working closely with family and community partners to persuade the potential victim.
The restrictions will primarily target online and telecommunication scams, excluding traditional in-person cheating cases.
When a restriction is issued, it will by default apply to accounts with the seven Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) in Singapore – DBS, OCBC, UOB, Citibank, HSBC, Maybank, and Standard Chartered.
However, it can also apply to accounts with non-D-SIBs if there is reason to believe those accounts are involved in the scam.
The restrictions will affect money transfers, ATM facilities, and credit facilities.
To minimise inconvenience, individuals under a restriction can apply to the police to access their funds for essential needs, such as paying bills.
These applications will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and will require proof of legitimate needs.
The restrictions will be valid for 30 days, with possible extensions up to a maximum of 150 days.
Individuals can appeal the restriction to the Commissioner of Police, with a guarantee of a swift assessment process. The Commissioner’s decision on any appeal will be final.
This bill comes in response to a sharp increase in scam cases, with incidents rising from approximately 9,500 in 2019 to 46,600 in 2023, resulting in S$650 million in losses.
Existing safeguards like Kill-Switch and Money Lock have proven less effective against voluntary money transfers, particularly in cases involving government impersonation scams and investment scams, which saw average losses of S$116,534 and S$40,080 per case, respectively.
The Bill has garnered substantial public support, with over 90% of respondents in a public consultation, which received over 50 responses expressing their approval.
Some concerns were raised about potential intrusiveness and abuse of power, but MHA has clarified that the restrictions are temporary and include safeguards such as specific issuance criteria, a maximum duration, and an appeal process to prevent misuse.
While the MHA acknowledges the risks associated with scams involving cryptocurrency exchanges and remittance companies, the current focus remains on bank accounts and credit facilities due to their prevalence in reported scams.
This bill builds upon existing efforts to combat scams, such as the Shared Responsibility Framework (SRF) set to be implemented in December 2024.
The SRF focuses on holding financial institutions and telecommunication companies accountable for losses arising from phishing scams.
Featured image credit: Edited from Freepik
