Close to 500 Cases of Phishing Scams Involving PayNow Transactions Reported in 2021
by Fintech News Singapore October 5, 2022There were 477 cases of banking related phishing scams involving PayNow transactions in 2021 with a median loss of S$3,400, according to statistics from the Singapore Police Force.
Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Minister in charge of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said that the cases stood at 133 with a median loss of S$1,200 in the first half of 2022.
These unauthorised transactions were perpetrated by scammers who had deceived bank customers into giving them their digital banking credentials.
The two rounds of anti-scam measures announced by MAS and the Association of Banks in Singapore in January and June this year is said to have strengthened safeguards against unauthorised banking transactions, including when such transactions are effected via PayNow.
For instance, the default transaction limit set at S$5,000 or lower and the default transaction notification threshold set at S$100 or lower apply to PayNow transactions as well.
Banks have also been adapting their anti-scam defences in response to new attack patterns, for instance, by temporarily lowering the PayNow limit to ward off attacks that may be directed at PayNow users.
MAS said that it continues to work closely with the industry to review and enhance the suite of anti-scam measures.
