28 June 2026"My heart skipped a beat when I realised what exactly was at stake – a 66-year-old customer’s home, tied to an SGD 600,000 loan from a pawnbroker.
I had been on the receiving end of several furious calls from the customer after I froze his bank account.
It started with an outgoing SGD 200,000 transaction our fraud monitoring system flagged and placed on a 24-hour hold. The customer quickly called, saying it was for a car. But the recipient was a “cutlery company”. When I pointed it out, he ended the call and asked to cancel the transfer.
We knew something wasn’t right and froze his bank account to protect him. I called him back to find out more. It took 45 minutes for the anger to settle before he finally admitted the money was for an “investment”.
He had clicked on an advertisement on an SMS survey and was added into a WhatsApp group chat. Convinced by the screenshots of payouts by “satisfied customers”, he got involved. The admins provided him with screenshots of his own “portfolio” with enormous profits.
It was clear to me he was caught in an elaborate investment scam. I walked him through each step scammers usually take and pointed out all the red flags.
Despite my best efforts, he refused to believe me. He finally revealed he had taken out an SGD 600,000 loan with a pawnbroker, using his house as collateral. That’s when I knew we had to act fast. It was time to get the police involved.
The truth finally sank in when a few officers showed up at his doorstep. He withdrew his transfer request and the case was handed over to the police for further investigations.
Cases like these are becoming more common. That’s why the bank is doing more to remind people to always be sceptical of “opportunities” that promise high and/ or guaranteed returns.
In Singapore, investments are heavily regulated, so, we always advise people to only use accredited investment platforms.
In fact, a few days after this case closed, we prevented another customer from being scammed of SGD 96,000. Everything looked legitimate, until we spotted that the company address was the same as the “cutlery company” from this 66-year-old customer’s case.
I’ve been on the frontlines trying to stop scams for six years. In my first few years at DBS, I was seconded to the Cantonment Police Complex. We were the first bank to co-locate our staff with the Police Anti-Scam Centre to support ongoing investigations in real-time.
As someone who graduated with a Banking and Finance degree, I used to think I would be analysing markets and managing investments at a bank. I didn’t expect this path.
But I’m glad I’m here – helping people protect what they’ve spent a lifetime building.”
– Yaznisham Yazid, DBS Anti-scam Team
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