Second Round of DBS / POSB ATM Card Skimming Fraud

DBS / POSB bank's ATM was hit by a second round of fraud last Sunday night, resulting S$23,000 stolen from 17 accounts. All affected customers were fully compensated within 24 hours. Unlike the previous time, the fraudster had withdrawn the money in Singapore instead of Malaysia.

The bank was quick enough to identify other potential victims among their customers and deactivated their ATM cards. Some customers were angered by the procedure of the bank, which was done without prior notice. It was, of course, done in order to reduce the lost of money.

DBS / POSB bank urges customers to keep the bank updated of their current contact number in order to receive real-time SMS alerts from the bank. The bank has also stated that customers can choose to lower their daily ATM cash withdrawal limit at any branch. Lastly, the bank also encourages customers to change their PINs regularly.

This repeated incident has dealt damages to the bank's reputation even greater, as some people call it "humiliation".

Since the bank has again fully compensated all affected customers, it shows their willingness to solve any similar incident in future, which will retain the trust of most customers. This means that the bank will be absorbing all damages.

However, comments from netizens at Yahoo! News were mostly negative. Some of them are demanding the CEO to step down like the ex COE of SMRT - Ms Saw.

There is also an interesting comment - "Looks like Biscuit Tins are more secure than banks".

"What about those who don't check their account balances? If they hadn't realised the loss of money, does it mean then it's gone?" - if anyone happens to know the answer to one of the commenters, do inform us.

We believe that the Singapore bank will improve its security to fight against future card skimming operation.

There should be security CCTVs at all ATMs and we hope the bank would be able to identify the fraudsters.

ATM and Debit Cards Scams - DBS / POSB bank - Unauthorised Withdrawal

For the past few days, there have been reports of unauthorised withdrawal from some DBS/POSB bank users' bank accounts.

This picture belongs to one of the victims, Amanda Goh.

The money was used or taken in Malaysia. Each transaction also deducted SGD $5 from the owner's account since it was done in overseas as a service charge by the bank(s). The owners' original ATM/debit cards were still with them.

There are some possible reasons why this has happened. The bank or merchant stores that accept the card payment may be hacked, or maybe, someone has duplicated the ATM / debit card, possibility during the process of payment.

All POSB/DBS bank users are advised to check their bank accounts daily for the next few days or weeks until any security loophole is being found and fixed.

The DBS / POSB bank has announced that they would return the "stolen" money back to the owners and thus users are advised not to panic and start withdrawing all money from their bank accounts.

Should anyone suspect that his/her ATM or debit cards may have been compromised should contact the bank immediately on 1800-220-1111 or visit any DBS/POSB branch.