CH’NG Poh Tiong
WELCOME TO EDITION 832 of GRAPEVINE
Customers have been cheated of more than S$8.5 million in the last three weeks
I hope 2022 has gotten off to a good start for you.
Unless, of course, you are one of the nearly 500 OCBC – Oversea Chinese Banking Corporation – customers who were cheated out of more than S$8.5 million in the last three weeks.
In their 30 December 2021 top story on their website, the Straits Times reported bank customers had received unsolicited SMSes from scammers.
“Once the funds have been fraudulently transferred out of the victim’s bank account, it would be challenging and difficult to recover the stolen monies,” said the police.
On 1 December 2021 Singapore Press Holdings Media Trust Chairman KHAW Boon Wan boasted that the trust’s mission is “to be the trusted source of news on Singapore and Asia”.
Yet, it did not occur to their journalist to ask the police:
- Who are the scammers?
- Where are they operating from?
- Is OCBC the only Singapore bank being targeted?
- If so, why?
- What is the police doing to track down the perpetrators?
If I were to tell you criminals had cheated wine consumers of S$8.5 million via website sales, I think you would like to know who the scammers are.
Nor, for that matter, has Singapore Home Affairs Minister S Shanmugan come out to address who is targeting the Singapore banking system.
Singapore Press Holdings Media Trust Chairman KHAW Boon Wan boasted about quality journalism
Singapore Home Affairs Minister S Shanmugan has not made any statement on the attacks
Hundreds of thousands of residents and Singaporeans – including this one – are customers of OCBC.
Is the security and well-being of the country’s banking system not an important enough matter for the minister to issue a statement?
Wishing you All the Very Best in 2022.
