Singapore Police Empowered to Restrict Banking Transactions of Potential Scam Victims

On January 7, Singapore's Parliament formally passed Scams Bill, and since then, Singapore Police Force and Commercial Affairs Department, have the power to restrict potential scam victims' bank transactions.

Minister of State for Home Affairs and for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling, said, “This Bill allows the police to act decisively and close a gap in our arsenal against scammers.”

Under the provisions of the new Bill, where there is reason to believe that a bank account holder is transferring money to scammers, government officials can issue a restraining order to the related bank to restrict fraudulent transactions.

The restraining order will suspend money transfers and the use of ATMs, as well as restricting all credit facilities. However, an individual's daily payments would not be affected. This will buy the police more time to convince victims that they have been defrauded.

DBS, OCBC, UOB, Citibank, HSBC, Maybank, and Standard Chartered Bank will all be involved as the vast majority of Singaporean consumers have accounts with these seven major banks. Meanwhile, the police can also issue restraining orders against other banks if necessary.

However, the Singaporean authorities have also stipulated that the restraining order can only be used as a “last resort” after other persuasive efforts have failed. The initial period of restriction shall not exceed 30 days, and can be extended for up to five times, after which the order will lapse.

After the expiration of the restraining order, the victim may still transfer money to the scammer.

“MHA takes a practical approach to this. We cannot handhold the victim indefinitely, nor do we have the resources to do so,” said Sun.