Police in Singapore can now seize management of an individual’s checking account and block cash transfers if they think the individual is being scammed, below a brand new legislation that kicked in on Tuesday.
The transfer is geared toward addressing a standard subject confronted by the police the place victims typically refuse to imagine they’re being scammed regardless of warnings, authorities have stated.
The legislation was handed earlier this yr by lawmakers, although some members of parliament have described the measure as intrusive.
Singapore has seen a worsening drawback with scams, which surged to a report S$1.1 billion ($860m; £630m) in 2024 within the island-state.
Beneath the brand new Safety from Scams Act, the police can order banks to dam a possible sufferer from making transactions if they think the individual is being scammed.
Police may also block a possible sufferer’s use of ATMs and credit score providers.
The choice might be taken by a police officer even when the potential sufferer doesn’t imagine warnings that they’re being scammed.
The checking account proprietor will nonetheless have entry to his funds for professional causes, corresponding to to pay for his or her each day bills and payments, however can solely use their cash on the discretion of the police, based on Singapore’s Ministry of Residence Affairs (MHA).
The MHA has stated {that a} potential sufferer’s checking account might be managed by the police for as much as 30 days at a time, with the choice for a most of 5 extensions if extra time is required.
Critics of the legislation have raised considerations over accountability and the potential for abuse of energy. In Parliament in January, some MPs instructed permitting residents to decide out of the legislation, or giving individuals the choice to appoint another person to freeze their transactions as an alternative of the authorities.
However proponents have stated that the legislation is required to stem the massive losses incurred by victims and to guard them.
The MHA stated the choice could be primarily based on the details supplied by the person and members of the family. “The restriction order will solely be issued as a final resort, after different choices to persuade the person have been exhausted,” it stated in a press release.
The variety of reported scams in Singapore has grown from round 15,600 instances in 2020 to greater than 50,000 instances in 2024.
Frequent scams in Singapore embody job and funding scams, and e-commerce fraud the place customers are duped into paying for objects they by no means obtain. Many are additionally more and more falling prey to web love scams, the place fraudsters spend months constructing on-line relationships earlier than tricking victims into sending cash.
The brand new legislation is the most recent anti-scam measure authorities have rolled out in Singapore. Since 2023, financial institution customers can lock up a portion of cash of their account in order that they can’t be transferred digitally.
Most banks even have an emergency “kill swap” that lets prospects freeze their financial institution accounts instantly if they think it has been compromised.
