A bill is being proposed in Singapore that will allow police orders to restrict banking transactions in response to a growing number of financial scams.
Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has introduced the «Protection for Scams Bill», according to a statement.
Under the proposed bill, local police can issue Restriction Orders to banks to «restrict an individual’s banking transactions, if there is a reasonable belief that the individual will make money transfers to scammers».
Voluntarily Scammed
According to MHA, the number of scam cases between 2019 and 2023 nearly quintupled to around 46,000 with around $650 million lost last year. Despite measures to safeguard against such scenarios, like a «Kill-Switch» to freeze bank accounts, many cases involve voluntary transfers. In the first half of 2024, 84 percent of reported scams were the result of «self-effected transfers».
«The scammers did not gain direct control of the victims’ accounts, but manipulated the victims into transferring their monies to the scammers,» MHA said. «Currently, the Police have no powers to stop the victims from transferring their monies to the scammers if they insist on doing so.»
