MHA consults on proposed Protection from Scams Bill empowering Police to issue restriction orders to banks to restrict banking transactions of scam targets

5 September 2024

On 30 August 2024, the Ministry of Home Affairs (“MHA”) launched a public consultation to seek feedback on a proposed Protection from Scams Bill (“Bill”) which seeks to empower the Police to issue restriction orders (“RO”) to banks to temporarily restrict the banking transactions of targets of ongoing scams who refuse to believe that they are being scammed. The consultation closes on 30 September 2024.

Background

Despite the introduction of safeguards by banks such as the “Kill-Switch” and “Money Lock” and extensive efforts to educate the public on how to avoid falling victim to scams, MHA reports that the number of scam cases involving the voluntary transfer of monies by the victim to the scammer remains high. In such cases, scammers do not gain direct control of the victims’ accounts. Rather, they manipulate victims into voluntarily transferring their monies to the scammers.

In some of these cases, despite warnings from the Police, the bank, or family members of the scam, victims refused to believe that they were being scammed. Such scams include internet love scams and scams that involve the impersonation of government officials. Currently, the Police have no powers to stop victims from transferring their monies to scammers if they insist on doing so.

Proposed Protection from Scams Bill

Scope 

The proposed Bill seeks to better protect targets of ongoing scams by empowering the Police to issue ROs to banks to restrict the banking transactions of an individual, if there is reason to believe that the victim will make money transfers to the scammer.

The decision to issue an RO will be made by the Police, based on an assessment of the facts and circumstances of each case. These may include the strength of evidence that the individual is being targeted by a scammer, an assessment of the imminence of such a scam, the individual’s response to warnings of such a scam, and whether the individual has been scammed in the past. While the Police may take into account the wishes of the individual or his or her family members, the decision whether to issue or not issue an RO will lie with the Police. This means that there may be situations where a RO is not issued despite requests by the family members, and vice versa.

ROs will not be issued in situations where an individual has already fallen victim to a scam, but the Police have no reason to believe that the individual will continue to make money transfers to the same or other scammers.

ROs will only be issued for scams conducted remotely

The Police will only issue ROs for scams that are conducted solely via digital or telecommunication channels (i.e. calls, SMSes, or online communications), where there have not been any in-person interactions.

Traditional cheating cases involving in-person interactions will not be covered (e.g. transfers to an errant renovation contractor, or to a family member or friend). For such cases, it is often unclear at the outset whether a criminal offence is disclosed, and immediate Police intervention may not be possible or required. However, members of the public may still lodge a Police report if they encounter such cases.

ROs will stop money transfers and suspend credit facilities

MHA is mindful of the need to strike a balance between protecting the public from scams, and not unduly inconveniencing the individual beyond what is necessary to protect the individual, and maintaining a sense of personal responsibility and choice. The proposed approach takes this into consideration.

ROs will cover the following banking facilities:

  • Money transfers (including online banking, mobile banking, and in person over-the-counter) out of the victim’s bank accounts and into other accounts, will be suspended. A mechanism will be introduced for these individuals to apply to the Police to have access to their monies for legitimate purposes (e.g. sustain daily living, pay bills).
  • All credit facilities (credit card transactions, access to personal loan facilities) will be suspended. This guards against the risk of scammers deceiving victims into applying for credit lines or loans on the scammers’ behalf.
  • If an individual has been assessed to warrant an RO, the Police will issue the RO to all the seven domestic systemically important banks (“D-SIBs”) in Singapore. This is in case the individual has banking accounts with more than one bank. The seven D-SIBs are: (a) DBS Bank, (b) Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, (c) United Overseas Bank, (d) Citibank, (e) Malayan Banking Berhad, (f) Standard Chartered Bank, and (g) Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. MHA explains that these are the major retail banks which manage most of the consumer deposits in Singapore.

Validity of ROs

ROs will be issued for a period of 28 days in the first instance. This gives the Police time to take further measures (e.g. continue engaging the individual and the next-of-kin, gather additional evidence to convince the individual to adopt the necessary banking safeguards) to stop the ongoing scam.

At the end of the 28-day period, if the Police assess that the individual is still at risk of being scammed, they will renew the RO for up to 28 days at a time.

ROs will only be issued as a last resort

ROs will only be issued if the Police have reason to believe that the individual is being targeted by a scammer and may make transfers to the scammer within the foreseeable future, and after other options to convince the victim have been exhausted and have failed.

Appeal mechanism

Individuals will be allowed to appeal to the Minister for Home Affairs against the Police’s decision to issue the RO. The decision of the Minister for Home Affairs will be final.

Reference materials

The following materials are available on the REACH website www.reach.gov.sg and the MHA website www.mha.gov.sg: