MAS considers action against OCBC for phishing scam

In Singapore the Monetary Authority of Singapore MAS is considering actions against OCBC for phishing scam.

This is in response to the scams where OCBC customers lost money after receiving SMS alerts or SMS messages. It was reported that OCBC customers lost at least $8.5 million in December alone and that the scams affected at least 469 OCBC customers.

MAS, Singapore's central bank will consider action against OCBC Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. OCBC is Singapore's second biggest lender.

MAS announced on Monday 17 Jan 2022 that it takes a serious view of the recent phishing scams involving OCBC Bank. MAS pointed out that the scams have significantly impacted several customers

MAS also stated that MAS has been following up with OCBC on these and broader issues relating to the incident. OCBC will conduct a thorough probe to identify deficiencies in its processes and implement necessary measures, after which MAS will consider appropriate supervisory actions.

OCBC made a separate statement, OCBC said it was making goodwill payouts to customers hit by the SMS phishing scam after reviewing each case and acknowledged that its incident response and customer service should have been better. So far there are Goodwill payouts to 30 victims to date and that all cases reviewed and validated thoroughly.

OCBC also said the scam was particularly aggressive and highly coordinated, and preyed on people's fear there were issues with their accounts or credit cards.

MAS stated that it expects all financial institutions to have robust measures for fraud prevention, detection, and remediation, and to provide prompt assistance to customers who have been victims of scams. MAS is also working with the Association of Banks in Singapore on industry-wide measures that may need to be taken to ensure that digital banking remains secure, efficient, and trusted.

(Image from Mothership article- https://mothership.sg/2022/01/couple-scammed-ocbc/)