Singapore plans law to restrict banking transactions of scam targets

Singapore's home ministry said on Friday that it will introduce a law in coming months to grant police the power to temporarily restrict the banking transactions of targets of scams who refuse to believe they are being duped. A general view shows the night time city skyline in Singapore on March 26, 2022 {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} The proposed law comes as the number of scam cases involving the voluntary transfer of money by the victim to the scammer remains high, despite measures and efforts to educate the public on how to avoid being tricked, the ministry said. "The proposed bill seeks to better protect targets of ongoing scams by empowering the police to issue restriction orders to banks to restrict the banking transactions of an individual, if there is reason to believe that he will make money transfers to the scammer," the ministry said. {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} The restriction orders will cover banking facilities including money transfers out of a victim's bank accounts and into other accounts, and all credit facilities.