Singapore police could soon have the power to force banks to freeze the accounts of stubborn scam victims who refuse to believe they are being conned.

The world-first bill, introduced last month, would allow officers to issue restriction orders to banks to prevent suspected victims from making transactions if there is “reasonable belief” they are being scammed.

Those subject to a restriction order will not be able to transfer money out of their bank accounts and into other accounts, including via online banking and ATM facilities.

They also will not be able to pay using credit or access personal loans.

However, the Ministry of Home Affairs said provisions would be made to allow them to access their money for “legitimate reasons” such as paying household bills and daily living expenses.

It said the restriction orders, under the proposed Protection from Scams Bill, would be a last-resort measure.

A statue fountain spits water in a harbour.

Scams in Singapore have increased fivefold in seven years, according to the government. (Wikimedia Commons)

According to the government, 86 per cent of reported scams in the first half of 2024 were the result of individuals willingly transferring funds to fraudsters.

“In some of these cases, the victims were told by the police, banks or family members that they were being scammed, but they still proceeded with the money transfers,” the ministry said.

Earlier this year, staff at Singapore’s DBS bank refused a customer’s request to transfer $S600,000 ($700,000) to another bank account they believed was held by scammers, local media reported.

“During the first two calls I had with him, he was evasive. On the third call, I asked him, ‘Are you sure you want to risk your life savings you worked so hard for?’,” Uthayakumar Chellappan Silvaraju from DBS’s anti-scam team told the Straits Times.

“That was when he broke down and said he was doing this under someone’s instructions, but he still refused to believe that he was being scammed.”

The man had already transferred $S60,000 into the account.

The police eventually managed to convince him he had been scammed and he made an official police complaint.

Police to restrict accounts for 30 days

South-East Asia has become the epicentre of a global scam epidemic in recent years, with industrial-scale online operations often using forced labour.

In Singapore, scam reports have increased fivefold from 2019 to 2023, with losses estimated at about $S650 million in 2023 alone, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Earlier this year, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat warned against a “malicious scammer” impersonating him in a phishing email.

A man in a suit and glasses stands at a lectern

Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said he was the victim of a “malicious scammer” who sent a phishing email in his name earlier this year. (Reuters: Feline Lim)

“Stay vigilant and ignore any emails if you are unable to verify the sender’s identity … phishing is one of the top online scams in Singapore and is designed to trick victims into handing over money or data,” Mr Keat wrote in a Facebook post.

Despite a suite of measures introduced by the government, such as mandating banks to allow customers to freeze their bank accounts or lock away a sum of monies that cannot be transferred via online means if they believe they are being scammed, scams continue to proliferate, the Ministry of Home Affairs said.

A Facebook post showing with evidence of a phishing email impersonating the deputy prime minister of Singapore

Scams have skyrocketed in Singapore, with public officials such as the country’s deputy PM being impersonated. (Facebook)

The proposed restriction orders would be enforced by a police officer based on a case-by-case scenario and would last up to a maximum of 30 days, but could be extended up to five times.

Such decisions could be made using information provided by the suspected scam victim and their family members, said the ministry.

Individuals issued with an RO can appeal against the decision.

The appeals process will be dealt with quickly as an RO will remain active during the assessment of the appeal, Home Affairs said.

During a month-long public consultation, more than 90 per cent of respondents, including people from various age groups, were supportive of the bill to protect those who did not believe they were being scammed.

However, some said the government should not intervene in personal decisions and were concerned the new powers could be “overly intrusive and might be abused”.

‘Not the best way to go’

University of Melbourne associate professor Toby Murray said scams were a growing issue globally and a better approach to government policy would be to place more of an onus onto the banks themselves, as the UK has done.

In October, the Australian government proposed new laws that would place obligations on banks, telcos and tech giants to detect, prevent and respond to scams.

“In terms of trying to reduce harm from scams that trick people into transferring money to scammers: I am not convinced this [Singapore] bill is the best way to go,” said Dr Murray, a cybersecurity expert.

“The bill seems to be based on the idea that it is the people who are being scammed who are at fault.

“If a single police officer can make a decision that prevents somebody from making bank transfers for 30 days, then that would appear to raise concerns about a lack of oversight.”

Dr Murray said the development of new technologies was behind the rise in scams that could be carried out against more people and more cheaply.

“With the rise of large language models like ChatGPT, scammers no longer need to employ people fluent in English to scam Australians, for example,” he said.

“The advent of deepfake technology is making it even easier for scammers to trick people by impersonating their loved ones or business acquaintances.”

The Protection from Scams Bill will have to go through a second reading in January before it is put to a vote and passed into law.