We thank Ms Eve Loh for her feedback (Do more to help vulnerable victims of phishing scams, March 26).

Safeguarding customer interests is a top priority for banks in Singapore. Various proactive measures are in place to help customers guard against these cyber crimes, so that they may carry out online financial transactions with confidence

For instance, banks actively scan for phishing sites and have them shut down. They also scan the dark web to identify payment card data that has been compromised, disabling affected cards and reissuing new ones to the customer.

As customers' computing devices may be attacked, automatic checks for malware have been built into the login process of online banking services.

While banks will continue to invest resources in the fight against cyber threats, customer vigilance is critical. To this end, banks have been proactively educating and alerting their customers by issuing scam alerts and cyber safety tips via multiple channels, including ATMs, bank websites, e-mail and mobile banking apps.

Defending against phishing scams is a joint effort and we urge customers to also play their part by safeguarding their passwords and keeping their personal devices and data safe. We encourage customers to notify their bank immediately if they suspect any fraudulent transactions in their accounts.

In particular, customers should check with their bank if they receive an SMS or e-mail they suspect to be a phishing attempt. This is especially so if the SMS or e-mail is unsolicited and asks for their personal or account details.

Ong-Ang Ai Boon (Mrs)

Director

The Association of Banks in Singapore