No requirement for banks to report amounts lost by customers to scams: Lawrence Wong
DPM Lawrence Wong stated that financial institutions aren't required to report customer losses to scams to MAS or other authorities. He explained that MAS already has access to the needed data for supervision, responding to queries by NCMP Hazel Poa.
SINGAPORE: Financial institutions have no regulatory requirement to report the amounts lost by their customers to scams to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) or other authorities, said Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Lawrence Wong.
In response to a Parliamentary question filed by Ms Hazel Poa, Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) from the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), DPM Wong explained that MAS or other authorities have access to the data needed for supervision.
Ms Poa asked the Prime Minister regarding the obligation for financial institutions to report scam-related losses to MAS or other authorities, seeking details on the amounts lost in 2022 and 2023, broken down by financial institutions.
In a written answer, DPM Wong, in response to Ms Poa's question on behalf of PM Lee, advised Ms Poa that the total amount lost to scams can be obtained from the bi-annual scam statistics published by the Singapore Police Force (SPF), which are derived from police reports filed by victims.
Scam-related losses in Singapore hit S$2 billion over 3-year period
Between January 2020 and June 2023, victims in Singapore suffered approximately S$2 billion in losses due to scams.
Globally, scammers were estimated to have stolen around US$1.02 trillion from August 2022 to August 2023, as reported by a study conducted by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance and ScamAdviser, a data service provider.
The mid-year scam statistics for 2023, released by the SPF, reported a staggering 64.5% increase in scam cases in the first half of 2023, reaching 22,339 compared to 13,576 cases during the same period in 2022.
Despite the surge in cases, the total losses in the first half of last year saw a slight decrease, from S$342.1 million to S$334.5 million.
Notably, more than half of the victims (55%) reported losses of up to S$2,000.
With DPM Wong's clarifications, the losses reported by the SPF might not represent the total sum that has been lost, as some might not file a police report.
Measures to address losses from scams
On 25 October 2023, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and IMDA proposed the Shared Responsibility Framework to address losses resulting from scams and allocate responsibility among financial institutions, telcos, and consumers.
Separately, The Central Provident Fund (CPF) announced on Monday a default online withdrawal limit of S$2,000 (approximately US$1,490) per day will be enforced for all CPF members aged 55 and above in Singapore.
On 10 January this year, the Singapore Parliament held a seven-hour session discussing the importance of a safe digital space.
New guidelines have been issued to help telecommunications companies protect consumers, particularly those vulnerable to scams. This includes training frontline staff to identify and assist at-risk consumers and encouraging telcos to waive charges for scam victims.
