Singapore passes Bill to control scam victims' accounts, covers cheating cases

Some stubborn scam victims lost so much money to scams – despite advice from banks, police, friends and family members – that they asked the Government for financial assistance.

However, with the passing of the Protection from Scams Bill, the police will be able to control the bank accounts of such victims to prevent them from transferring money to scammers.

The new law will give the police powers to issue restriction orders (ROs) to banks, which will then restrict the banking transactions of an individual’s accounts.

These include money transfers, the use of ATM facilities and all credit facilities, affecting even PayNow and in-person, over-the-counter transactions.

The law was initially intended to deal with remote scams, such as overseas syndicates targeting victims through calls, social media and messaging channels.

When the Bill was introduced in Parliament on Nov 11, 2024, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had said the laws would not cover traditional cheating cases, such as those involving in-person interactions with errant renovation contractors or family members and friends.

But to illustrate how fast the landscape had changed in two months, Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling revealed in her speech on Jan 7 that the powers will be extended to traditional cheating cases. This is because the police noticed cases where victims met accomplices in person, she said.

By default, ROs will be issued to the seven major retail banks here – OCBC Bank, DBS Bank, UOB, Maybank, Standard Chartered, Citibank and HSBC – but can also be issued to other banks.

It is the police who have the final say on whether an RO is issued. This is done after consulting the scam victim and his family members.

Ms Sun said there are four safeguards put in place for an RO to be issued.

First, it is issued only as a last resort to protect the victim.

Second, ROs will take effect for up to 30 days at a time and can be extended up to five times, which means they can last for up to six months.

The police can cancel an RO ahead of the 30-day limit if the individual is assessed to be no longer at risk of being scammed.

If, after six months, the victim still insists on transferring money to scammers, the RO will not be extended.

David Sun

The Straits Times

Asia News Network