A new variant of scam targeting bank customers has emerged recently. The following describes how this scam works:

Victim, whose bank account has already been compromised, receives a call from an unknown person claiming to be a staff member from the bank

The call is made using a spoofed phone number that resembles the bank’s Personal Banking Hotline.

Caller asks the victim to “authenticate her bank account” by responding to the digital token notification on her mobile phone.

Following the authentication, the victim subsequently discovers unauthorised transactions made from her bank account.

Members of the public are advised to adopt the following crime prevention measures:

1. Beware of unsolicited calls from persons claiming to be staff from the banks. Scammers may use Caller ID spoofing technology to mask the actual phone number and display a different number.

2. Do not respond to digital token authentication requests via phone calls if you did not initiate any internet banking transactions. Responses to such calls can be used by fraudsters to trick users into providing access to your bank account.

3. If you receive a suspicious call purportedly from your bank, hang up, and call the hotline published on the bank’s website to verify the authenticity of the request. Do not call the number provided by the caller.

4. Always check that the digital token authentication request reflects your intended actions and do not proceed with or authorise any suspicious authentication request.

5. Do not disclose your Internet Banking details such as account username, Personal Identification Number (PIN) or One-Time Password (OTP) to anyone through phone, email or SMS – including bank staff or law enforcement officers.

6. Ensure that your bank account is used only for your personal banking needs.

If you wish to provide any information related to such scams, please call the Police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.

To seek scam-related advice, you may call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg. Join the ‘let’s fight scams’ campaign at www.scamalert.sg/fight by signing up as an advocate to receive up-to-date messages and share them with your family and friends. Together, we can help stop scams and prevent our loved ones from becoming the next victim of scam.