BANKS SEE SEASONAL SPIKE IN SCAMS
Banks say scam activity typically rises toward the end of the year, particularly for e-commerce and travel-related fraud such as fake hotel bookings and festive purchases.
“Towards the end of the holiday, you see the scams going up by maybe 10 to 20 per cent than the usual amount,” said Mr Beaver Chua, head of anti-fraud at OCBC.
“Then after that, (it) will taper back again. (During the upcoming Chinese New Year period), you will see it going up again. There is, surprisingly, a seasonality effect as well, depending on the festivity.”
However, overall reported scam cases in Singapore have declined, even as total financial losses remain high.
According to the Singapore Police Force’s mid-year scam and cybercrime statistics, the total number of scam cases in the first half of 2025 fell by about 26 per cent to 19,665, compared with the same period in 2024. Total losses also decreased by roughly 12.6 per cent to about S$456.4 million over the same period.
Mr Chua pointed to government official impersonation scams and investment scams as particular areas of concern, as they tend to involve larger sums.
“These are the two types of scams that we are quite worried about, because these are targeted large value losses in comparison to things like e-commerce,” he added.
OCBC has rolled out additional safeguards, including secure in-app calls to help customers distinguish legitimate bank staff from fraudsters, enhanced scam surveillance and frontline training to identify signs of distress.
Source: CNA
