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SINGAPORE \u2013 Bank officers no longer just help customers with banking needs; they sometimes have to play the role of a counsellor or adviser to scam victims, said OCBC Bank\u2019s assistant vice-president of customer service Norlela Samad.<\/p>\n
She once encountered an elderly customer who went to the bank\u2019s White Sands branch in Pasir Ris to withdraw hundreds of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n
Sensing something was amiss, Norlela, 49, reminded the woman to be wary of the types of scams that were prevalent then<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n However, her warning was brushed aside.<\/p>\n Norlela, who has worked at OCBC for 30 years, shared that some scam victims are reluctant to be forthcoming about what happened.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will ask questions and advise customers who have fallen victim to scams about the steps they can take,\u201d she told Berita Harian.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, sometimes the customers themselves do not want to listen to our advice or share information with us. This is because they do not want other people to interfere in their affairs.<\/p>\n \u201c(If) after we have explained the reasons and risks, the customer still does not want to accept our advice, that becomes a major challenge because we cannot force them.\u201d<\/p>\n In the case of the elderly customer at White Sands, Norlela tried to obtain more information and explained to the woman that she might be getting scammed.<\/p>\n \u201cBut she simply told me, \u2018Oh, don\u2019t worry.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Still feeling uneasy, Norlela quickly alerted the bank\u2019s fraud team as well as the Singapore Police Force, as they were the only ones able to contact the elderly customer\u2019s family to verify the situation.<\/p>\n It turned out that Norlela\u2019s suspicions were correct \u2013 the customer had indeed been scammed and the withdrawn money gone.<\/p>\n As a specialist in handling scam cases, Norlela frequently encounters incidents like this.<\/p>\n She believes that her responsibilities go beyond simply helping customers with their banking needs.<\/p>\n The mother of two grown-up sons sees herself as a \u201ccalming presence\u201d for victims of banking scams and an \u201cadviser\u201d who guides them in how to identify the signs and dangers of scams.<\/p>\n As a front-line staff member, she also has to be prepared to share the burden of their troubles.<\/p>\n Norlela does this by lending an ear, listening to every one of her customers\u2019 grievances: \u201cIt is like being a counsellor \u2013 we have to listen a lot and be patient,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cListen actively and with empathy because usually, when scam victims are willing to share the problems they are facing, they will pour out their emotions.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the same time, I feel responsible for educating them and raising their awareness.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is mentally and emotionally exhausting, but it is important to educate the public about such matters,\u201d she said. BERITA HARIAN<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n SINGAPORE \u2013 Bank officers no longer just help customers with banking needs; they sometimes have to play the role of a counsellor or adviser to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/79930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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