'It's my money, why can't I make the transfer?' DBS staff stop elderly man from losing $3,000 to love scam
An elderly man narrowly avoided becoming a victim of a love scam, all thanks to some vigilant bank staff.
In a Facebook post on Sunday (Oct 8), two staff members from DBS Bank's Compass One branch described their encounter with a customer in his 70s.
He had gone to the bank to make a transfer of $3,000 to another bank account on an undisclosed date.
When bank officer Rohani Hassan asked him some routine questions before processing the transfer, the elderly man said that the money was payment to a courier company so that they would 'release' a parcel that was meant for him.
"Alarm bells blared in my head," said the bank officer. Rohani said she tried to explain to the customer that he could be the target of a potential scam, but the latter refused to listen.
"It’s my money, why can’t I make the transfer?" he retorted angrily.
As the man was hard of hearing, Rohani wrote a note to him saying: "I can’t make the transfer for you, because I believe that you’re about to be scammed."
Seeing that the customer was getting agitated, she sought the help of the branch's deputy service manager, Siew Lay.
Reading what Rohani had written, Siew Lay ran some additional checks on the payee's account number.
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"I discovered that the account had been flagged for suspicious transactions. It was also a personal bank account, instead of a business account like he mentioned," she said.
"I conveyed this to him, but he grew angrier, insisting that he’d like to take another queue number to close his account with DBS, and make the transfer from a different bank."
Left with no other option, Siew Lay called the police. Shortly after, some officers arrived and convinced the customer to leave the premises.
"It turned out that the man was the target of a love scam," said the deputy service manager.
"I’ve been with the bank for over 35 years, and I’ve witnessed scams become more and more elaborate. Sometimes branch staff are the 'last line of defence' in protecting our customers from being scammed so we do our best to keep up with the latest scam modus operandi.
"It’s never easy dealing with an upset customer, but I’d rather face their anger than risk them getting scammed," she said.
For their vigilance, Rohani and Siew Hong received letters of appreciation from the police in September.
Over $35 million lost to online love scams
According to the National Crime Prevention Council, there have been 868 victims who have lost $35.7 million to online love scams as of December 2022.
Love scams usually involve the scammers befriending the victims online and asking for a loan, or sending parcels to victims to gain their trust.
To prevent becoming a victim of a love scam, the council advises members of the public to verify the identity of any online friends and not to send money to strangers.
READ ALSO: Once bitten, twice not shy: Woman loses over $15k to online love scams
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