I prevented a man from losing > $100,000

“I’m calling regarding the $97,800 transfer you’re trying to make,” I explained over the phone to a customer.

The transfer had been flagged as a suspicious transaction by DBS’ fraud surveillance. As part of the anti-scam team at DBS, my job entails verifying such transfers with customers.

I pulled up his records - $93,000 had already been transferred out just over an hour ago.

“I haven’t accessed my internet banking all day,” he answered, sounding perplexed.

I immediately placed his account on “no debit”, meaning money could no longer leave his account.

While I was asking questions to verify the situation, he rushed to hang up, saying he would call me back.

Moments later, he called and said, “Actually, I forgot I had added the payee and made the transfer. Can you allow the second transfer?”

Any trace of confusion was now replaced with increasing impatience and hostility.

“Let me make some verifications,” I responded, as I dialed the number of the police official at the Anti-Scam Centre.

I was convinced he was a victim of a Government Official Impersonation Scam - it had the same modus operandi of a case I handled just two days ago.

These are very sophisticated scams that involve multiple layers of deception, including telling victims that bank staff and police officers are the “criminals” trying to implicate them in a scheme.

In this situation, a police officer took over and spoke with the man. I later found out, the officer spent two hours convincing him of the scam. The breakthrough: a newspaper article detailing the exact scenario the man was going through.

The man’s third and final call of the day came to me at 10pm. This time, he thanked me and apologised profusely for his tone in the earlier calls.

In an extremely rare scenario, his money was fully recovered the next morning.

I’ve been working in the anti-scam centre for the last year, after making an internal switch within the bank from my previous role in the mortgage lending sector.

I grew up watching investigative shows like Crime Watch and C.L.I.F, in awe of police officers and how they solve cases. I know my younger self would definitely be proud of the work I do today."

- Elaine Tan, DBS anti-scam team

#HumansOfDBS