Post by : Meena Ariff

Photo: AFP

Starting Tuesday, Singapore police can freeze a person’s bank account if they find proof that the person is being scammed. This new law was passed in January and has now come into force.

Earlier, the police could not stop people from transferring money to scammers, even if it was clear that they were being cheated. Now, if police have strong proof that someone is about to send money to a scammer, they can stop the bank transactions immediately, even if the person wants to send the money.

This restriction means that the person’s bank account, ATM access, and credit facilities will be frozen. However, they can still take out money for their daily living needs. The Ministry of Home Affairs said that this new law will help the police protect people from ongoing scams.

The ministry explained that the restriction order will only be used as a last resort. Before freezing accounts, police will try to convince the person not to send the money. If that fails, then the order will be issued to protect them.

This restriction will last for 30 days but can be extended up to five times if needed.

One example shared in parliament was about a 64-year-old woman who lost S$400,000 (around RM1.3 million) to a scammer who pretended to be her lover. Such romance scams have become a huge problem in recent years.

According to a UN report, countries in East and Southeast Asia lost around US$37 billion to cyber fraud in 2023 alone. In Singapore, most scam reports between January and September last year involved people transferring money themselves. These cases made up 86% of all scam reports and 94% of total scam losses.

Professor Eugene Tan from Singapore Management University said that while this law may seem strict, the government believes scams are a big problem that hurt not only the victims but also their families and society.