MAJOR retail banks in Singapore have enhanced their security measures to protect customers from malware scams, said the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) in a statement on Monday (Sep 18).

The banks will also “progressively introduce refinements or new measures to keep pace with changes in the threat landscape,” it added.

The association also said that the banks have designed and implemented anti-malware security measures tailored to their customer base and systems. “This has the benefit of deterring scammers from being able to defeat all scam protections across the industry in one fell swoop,” it said.

Anti-malware security measures on banking apps also aid banks by detecting the presence of malware on customers’ devices and triggering additional actions, said ABS. This includes blocking access to the banking app, or calling customers when suspicious activities are detected on their device before transactions are carried out.

The security measures do not monitor nor conduct surveillance on customers’ mobile devices. They also do not collect or store personal data.

Noting that the anti-malware security measures may affect customers who are performing banking transactions, ABS said that banks will “continually calibrate their approach to achieve a right balance between the risk of fraud and inconveniencing legitimate transactions”.

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Together with the banks, the association said it will “continue to work closely” with the government and law enforcement authorities to raise awareness about malware scams among customers, as well as to remind them to install apps only from official app stores.

Ong-Ang Ai Boon, director at ABS, pointed out that these measures “will not be foolproof” and that “the best defence against scams is still a discerning and vigilant customer”.

Ho Hern Shin, deputy managing director of financial supervision at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said: “As scammers constantly adjust their tactics to evade existing safeguards, the industry must continue to respond in an agile fashion to counter these threats.”

She urged members of the public to heed scam advisories issued by the police and the banks, so they can be aware of new scam tactics and protect themselves accordingly.

The Straits Times reported on Sep 13 that 22,339 scam cases were reported from January to June 2023, up from 13,576 cases over the same period a year ago.

Victims lost S$334.5 million in the first half of this year, slightly down from S$342.1 million for the same period last year. Scam victims in Singapore lost a total of S$660.7 million in 2022, up from S$632 million in 2021.