How SMS phishing scams have affected OCBC customers and put text messaging security in focus | Kenny Chee and Dominic Lo

[answerhappygod]

How SMS phishing scams have affected OCBC customers and
put text messaging security in focus | Kenny Chee and
Dominic Low
SINGAPORE - Dec 28 is not a day that housewife Siti Raudhah Mohd
Ali, 33, remembers fondly. The mother of seven lost about $100,000
to scammers within minutes that day after she fell for a bogus SMS
that had spoofed OCBC Bank as the sender.
Most of the money was meant for her children's expenses.
"It was like the whole world just crashed on me. I felt helpless
inside," she said, recounting how she received multiple
notifications of the fraudulent transfers on her phone.
Victims who contacted The Straits Times said they lost amounts
ranging from about $3,000 to $500,000, which for some amounted to
their entire life savings built up over the years for their
families.
Some victims claimed that it took so long - 20 minutes or more
in some cases - to get through to a person via OCBC's hotline that,
by the time the bank was able to take action, the scammers had
already siphoned much of their funds.
In desperation, one customer rushed down to a physical bank
branch to try and stop the scammers but was too late, according to
one account.
Amid more customers coming forward in the new year to share how
the scams affected them, and more questions being raised about how
safe digital banking is, OCBC and the authorities moved in quick
succession last week to address the issue.
On Monday (Jan 17), the Infocomm Media Development Authority
(IMDA) urged more businesses to sign up with an anti-SMS spoofing
registry, which allows organisations to register SMS sender names
they wish to protect from misuse.
The registry was launched as a pilot scheme in August last year
with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Mrs Ong-Ang Ai Boon, director of the Association of Banks in
Singapore (ABS), later said that for the registry to be effective,
"all relevant stakeholders in the digital ecosystem need to be
involved, particularly telecommunications companies to ensure scam
messages cannot be sent through their networks".
MAS also said on Monday that it would consider the appropriate
supervisory actions after OCBC conducted a thorough probe into the
scams.
Q: Given the recent phishing scams that affected OCBC bank
customers, there have been growing concerns about the privacy and
security affecting digital users, especially since many of us use
our mobile phones for services beyond banking, such as online
shopping, food deliveries and others. The scams have resulted in a
dent to the Singapore Government’s Smart Nation initiatives.
Discuss and critique how the recent phishing scams have:
(a) affected public confidence towards trusting digital banking,
and (b) give suggestions how banks can help regain public’s trust
and confidence.