Singaporeans should be reassured by the firm response of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) to the recent spate of SMS-phishing scams targeting bank customers. The two institutions are introducing a set of additional measures to bolster the security of digital banking. While the emphasis is on immediate steps to strengthen controls, longer-term preventive measures, too, are being evaluated for implementation in the coming months. Thus, banks will have to put in place measures such as removing clickable links in SMSes or e-mail sent to retail customers, within the next two weeks. Also, there must be a delay of at least 12 hours before activation of a new soft token on a mobile device, notification to existing mobile number or registered e-mail whenever there is a request to change a customer's contact details, and dedicated customer assistance teams to deal with feedback on potential fraud cases on a priority basis.

These moves attest to a determination by the authorities to deal with the scourge of scams, including by making clear that all financial institutions are expected to have robust measures in place to prevent and detect scams, as well as effective incident handling and customer service in the event of a scam. MAS is also intensifying its scrutiny of the fraud surveillance mechanisms of major financial institutions to ensure they can deal with the growing threat of online scams.