Phishing
A phishing attack is an online fraud technique which involves sending official-looking email messages with return addresses, links and branding that all appear to come from legitimate banks, credit card companies, etc. The key here is that the messages are sent randomly. If you receive an email claiming to be from Bank of Singapore, and it appears to be fraudulent, it does not mean that the perpetrators have our customer list and are specifically targeting you and/or other Bank of Singapore customers – they are just randomly selecting people and "phishing" for personal info.
Such emails typically contain a hyperlink to a spoof website and mislead account holders into entering customer names and security details on the pretense that security details must be updated or changed. Once you give your information, it can be fraudulently used to access your account.
It is important that you are suspicious of emails asking for your personal and account information.
Bank of Singapore will never ask you for your password over the Internet or via electronic mail.
Vishing
Vishing is an adaptation of phishing attacks that uses telephone or voice-over-internet protocol (more commonly known as VoIP). You may receive an email or SMS asking you to call a toll-free number to confirm your details, or you may receive a phone call with a recorded message asking you to input your account details.
To protect yourself, use only the telephone numbers of Bank of Singapore that are provided to you by your Relationship Manager and verify that you are speaking to an officer of Bank of Singapore before you disclose your personal information over the telephone.
Bank of Singapore will never ask you for your password over the telephone.
Imitation of Bank of Singapore websites
Bank of Singapore monitors the Internet to find imitation websites, which are often the first step, made by phishers. We will then work with the appropriate international authority to get the websites closed down as quickly as possible.
Advanced Fee Fraud
You may already have heard of ‘advance fee fraud’, where emails offering large sums of money are sent to thousands of email addresses, but a modest ‘fee’ was required in order to cover legal fees, open an account or pay customs charges. Sometimes, the money offered is as a result of a lottery for which you have never bought a ticket. Sometimes, the money is held in an account overseas but the account owner cannot access it so they promise a percentage of the money in return for your help. In both cases various fees have to be paid.
Do not respond to these emails. They are part of a fraud and you will not receive any of the promised money.
We place this warning here because we are aware that the criminals carrying out these frauds do on occasion use the name of Bank of Singapore or a Bank of Singapore subsidiary as part of this scam.
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