Progress on Framework for Equitable Sharing of Losses Between Scam Victims and Financial Institutions

3 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Prime Minister (a) whether the Government can provide updates on (i) the progress of the framework for the equitable sharing of losses suffered by scam victims and (ii) the work of the Payments Council in reviewing the practices that the financial industry can put in place to better protect consumers from scams; and (b) what are current and upcoming efforts of Project Frontier and the Inter-Ministry Committee on Scams on combating scams.

The Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Mr Alvin Tan) (for the Prime Minister): MAS is working with the industry to finalise a framework for the equitable sharing of losses resulting from scams. The Payments Council has proposed a draft set of responsibilities relevant to financial institutions and consumers. MAS is finalising the framework, in coordination with other Government agencies. It is taking us longer than expected to design a fair and effective framework that ensures shared responsibility across the ecosystem as well as incentives for each party to be vigilant against scams. MAS aims to seek public comments on the framework as soon as possible.

At the broader level, the Inter-Ministry Committee on Scams (IMCS), chaired by the Ministry of Home Affairs, also partners the financial institutions closely. This includes Project FRONTIER, as mentioned by the Member, where the Police have established processes with financial institutions to swiftly freeze bank accounts suspected of being used in scams, in order to mitigate victims’ losses and disrupt scammers’ operations. From January to June 2022, the Police froze more than 7,800 accounts and recovered more than S$80 million worth of scam proceeds.

The IMCS has also strengthened enforcement against perpetrators. Since the formation of the Singapore Police Force’s Anti-Scam Command in March this year, more than 4,300 scammers and money mules who were involved in more than 12,000 scam cases involving S$101 million were either arrested or called up for investigation.

Other than enforcement actions, the IMCS has expanded its public education campaign, called "Spot the Signs. Stop the Crimes", to build public awareness and vigilance on how to spot scams. For instance, it has shared materials advising the public to not share personal details, such as log-in credentials and one-time-passwords, with unverified parties. IMCS will continue to work with all stakeholders to deepen its public outreach.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Saktiandi Supaat.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the Minister of State for the answers. I have two supplementary questions.

One is in relation to the loss-sharing framework that the Minister of State shared. I have residents who came up to me to highlight about some of their loss-sharing issues. I was wondering whether the Minister of State can share how fast this can be rolled out because it has a direct impact on residents in monetary terms.

Two, in relation to the knowledge of contact information for scams, I have a few residents who came up to me experiencing a scam in process while they are literally speaking to a scammer, called 999 but was informed that that is not the number to call. So, I was wondering whether more can be done via Project FRONTIER to ensure that there is some coordination between the Police and the banks to handle such situations.

So, I hope the Minister of State can share a bit more on that front in terms of coordination and whether Project FRONTIER can, together with IMCS, actually enhance that.

Mr Alvin Tan: Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank Mr Saktiandi Supaat for the supplementary questions.

With regard to the loss-sharing framework, I think the major principle is for us to find a good platform in which to design a fair and effective framework such that many of the different parties have a shared responsibility, all aspects of it. It is taking us longer than expected because to put in all of the key aspects in place requires us to make sure where the shared responsibility lies equitably across all of the different stakeholders. But we continue to work on this at a very urgent pace. We understand that this is urgent work and what we are trying to do is to make sure that this loss-sharing and accountability approach incorporates as well as involves all key parties in the ecosystem and every single aspect of this. Every stakeholder has to be vigilant in their own right against scams, both institutions as well as individuals. That is why, in my original answer, I said that it was important for all of us to also conduct public outreach and also for the financial institutions and authorities to play their part. What we are trying to achieve is, as I mentioned, a fair as well as effective framework so that there is shared responsibility across the ecosystem.

With regard to the Member's residents, this is something that is very important for us to bear in mind. If members of the public face this issue, they should notify their banks immediately, if they suspect that they are victims of scams. Many of the financial institutions, in fact, the major retail banks, have made it easier for the public to report scams by either having dedicated hotline numbers or making it the first few options on their phone banking menu. So, members of the public are encouraged to obtain such hotline numbers from the official sources, such as at the back of the ATM cards and to also save the numbers on their mobile phones.

In addition, members of the public can also file a Police report either online or in person if they have lost money to scams. They can call the anti-scam hotline at 1800 722 6688 for advice. This is managed by both the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) and also the latest ScamShield app that is available now on both android as well as IOS can also be used to report suspicious scam messages. But, in concert, all of these are also a work in progress. We also encourage members of the public to give us feedback and also the financial institutions as well as the retail banks on how to tighten this further as we continue to fight as an ecosystem against scams.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Dr Tan Wu Meng.

Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong): I thank the Minister of State for his answer. I have raised PQs on this topic before. I have two supplementary questions.

Firstly, does MAS track the response time from notification to a Government agency or the bank till the time the illegal transfer is interrupted in cases where residents discover an illegal transfer in progress?

Secondly, for this equitable risk-sharing framework, will the agencies continue to consider the point I raised previously, that is, the idea that there can be a continuum between an unforced error and a forced error, depending on the sophistication of the scammer?

Mr Alvin Tan: I thank Dr Tan Wu Meng for his supplementary questions. Maybe I will share about the second question first with regard to the equitable risk-sharing framework on the continuum between the error as well as the unforced error. These are issues or steps that we are taking proactively within consultation. MAS, with regard to the other agencies, are looking into this equitable sharing framework and will take into account both this broad continuum because the instance where a scam is being perpetrated, as well as the discovery, these are all quite critical in terms of finding the perpetrator, in terms of making sure that there is recovery as well. So, we will factor those into our discussions.

On the first question, at this point in time, we do not track those data. But we will take into account the Member's feedback.

Mr Deputy Speaker: I will allow one last supplementary question because we need to move on to dengue. Ms Denise Phua.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Two supplementary questions for the Minister of State.

Firstly, does MAS require the banks or the financial institutions to notify their customers should there be regular and/or big sums of withdrawals or money movements from their accounts? I know some banks do it, some banks do not, but I wonder if there is actually a regulation, practice or policy regarding this.

Secondly, I know that MAS is working very hard on the framework and so forth to ensure loss-sharing and recourse like that. But I wonder what the interim recourse is for the scam victims. I have a resident, for example, who lost his life savings of almost a quarter million dollars and he did the right thing – make a Police report, wrote to the authorities, wrote to the banks and so forth, but still extremely distraught and distressed. So, I wonder what is the recourse for victims like this.

Mr Alvin Tan: I thank the Member for her questions. I think many of our residents have also shared with regard to the scams and one of the issues with regard to banks as well as the scams is on individual responsibility as well. But we also make sure that we have constant updates with the Police and will also inform customers on how to report to the Police.

I know that this issue with regard to scams is a rather new one because of the online as well as technology. But what we are trying to do with both the loss-sharing framework as well as the public outreach to individuals and also to encourage the banks to have good processes in place will be very important for us to manage this issue in a fair and equitable way. But that notwithstanding, we want to encourage all members of the public to, first, be extremely vigilant. If you see any of these funds being transferred outside, that is, unusual transactions, please inform your banks immediately. We, on the MAS front, are coordinating very closely with the Police as well as the financial institutions to tighten these processes and this consultation will come in due time so that we can tighten these processes and combat scams together.