ABS comes up with a watchful chameleon as a way of alerting potential victims of online fraud.
We have all been there. In the 1990s it was by email. Someone from Nigeria claiming to be linked to the government wanted to transfer millions of dollars because you were ostensibly such a good person.
Since then, we have been buried in a veritable industry full of hidden links, deepfakes, and scammers posing as buyers and sellers in online market forums.
Deep Regional Impact
Asia has been particularly deeply impacted by the current wave of fraud, as finews.asia has written about extensively, forcing regulators and banks in Singapore and Hong Kong to take seemingly forceful measures.
Still, based on an announcement sent on Thursday, the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) has decided to take an entirely different tack. It is going for a softer, gentler touch as opposed to Hong Kong, which warns Fast Payment Service users they are likely falling victim to scammers and will be doing the same with ATMs from next March.
Enter the Mascot
They have decided to introduce, Canny, a watchful chameleon, as a mascot.
According to them, it will blend in the background in a way that alerts potential victims of a possible scam or fraud attempt.
Shrewd Judgement
As the definition of the word itself implies, the mascot will be shrewd and have good judgment, clearly unlike its more commonly employed antonym, uncanny.
Canny will supposedly break down imminent threats into easy-to-remember tips and telltale signs, reminding banking clients to remain alert to scammers and their ever-changing schemes.
Don’t Click
«Over time, Canny will become an anti-scam visual in everyone’s minds and remind customers to always stop, check, don’t click yet,» ABS director Ong-Ang Ai Boon indicated in the announcement.
That does indeed sound like good advice.
