OCBC says S$13.7 million lost in phishing scams

In the latest series of phishing schemes involving OCBC Bank, a total of S$13.7 million was lost, up from S$8.5 million reported in December, the bank stated in an update on Sunday (Jan 30). As more customers came forward, the number of clients affected increased from 469 to 790.

The prior data were based on police reports filed by victims at the time, according to the bank, and fresh reports were filed and submitted to OCBC in January.

“In addition to those who had made police reports, we also reached out to victims who were not aware they had been scammed. As mentioned previously, more than 200 customers were prevented from falling prey due to our enhanced measures following the initial wave of scams,” OCBC said in a statement.

It went on to say that around 80% of the money was lost during the year-end holiday season, which lasted from December 23 to December 30. “During this period, the calls made to the bank’s contact centre surged by over 40 per cent,” said OCBC.