DBS to probe high-risk fund transfers with more questions to customers

SINGAPORE – More DBS online banking users can expect further probes into the nature of their transfers as Singapore’s largest bank rolls out new measures to stamp out scams, most of which involve victims knowingly sending funds.

Over the coming months, making high-risk fund transfers may require users to answer questions such as the identity of the person requesting the transfer.

These questions, which are still being worked out, will act as “cognitive breaks” to interrupt the psychological state of victims and prompt them to rethink their decision.

Depending on the user’s response, the bank will intervene accordingly, said Mr Yin Juon Qiang, DBS Bank’s head of group investigations and fraud advisory.

Details of the intervention have not been disclosed, but existing interventions for high-risk transactions include making a call to the customer, and delaying or temporarily blocking the transfer.

More customised in-app prompts will also be activated when customers initiate transactions of higher risk, including adding a new payee and raising transfer limits.

Customised prompts may include “Were you asked to transfer money for an investment?” or “Have you met this recipient in real life?”. Elderly customers may also receive a prompt in larger font and with bolder visuals.

These customised prompts will supplement standard ones seen today: “Do you really know the individual or organisation you are adding as a recipient? Could fraudsters be using a new tactic to trick you into sending money? If in doubt, do not proceed.”

Such interventions allow the bank to be more targeted, said Mr Yin, noting that it already analyses signals, such as changes in the device used or unusual transaction patterns, to pick out high-risk scenarios from millions of transactions daily.

“It’s not about a single static control; it’s about having a system that can adapt dynamically,” he said.

The targeted measures complement broad-based controls such as a 12-hour cooling period for adding a new payee or registering a digital token.

Banks are also required to send real-time alerts when customers increase daily transfer limits, update their contact details and register a digital token.

These broad-based measures were mandated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore following a major phishing scam in late 2021 and early 2022 that targeted OCBC Bank customers. The scam resulted in $13.7 million in losses for hundreds of victims.

“Broad-based transaction controls are effective in reducing certain risks such as unauthorised scams, but they also impact all customers, including more than 99.9 per cent of transactions which are legitimate,” said Mr Yin.

Currently, users who transfer funds above an undisclosed threshold face additional authentication such as via their digital or physical token.

Transactions flagged as high-risk – like unusually large transfers – may also be delayed or, in serious cases, require customers to answer a call from the bank’s anti-scam team.

“While DBS looks for unusual behaviour and patterns across both authorised and unauthorised scams, data shows that unauthorised scams form a smaller proportion of overall cases,” said Mr Yin.

Authorised scams occur when victims are duped into transferring money to scammers through social engineering. Government official impersonation and love scams can fall under this category.

Unauthorised scams involve scammers gaining illegal access to a victim’s bank account after stealing login credentials via phishing links.

Authorised scams made up 81.8 per cent of all scam cases that Singapore saw in 2025, according to statistics released by the police in February.

“As such, a significant focus is placed on combating authorised scams, which are more complex to detect and successfully intervene.”

The number of scam cases in Singapore has fallen for the first time in eight years, from more than 50,000 in 2024 to 37,308 in 2025, according to the police statistics released in February.

But a concerning scam trend also emerged in 2025, where victims have been convinced to buy gold bars and hand them over to scammers, as these are harder for the authorities to track.

Said Mr Yin: “DBS will continue to play our part in both continuing our targeted measures, as well as moving collectively on industry-wide efforts.”