Man arrested for suspected involvement in OCBC phishing scams

SINGAPORE: A 31-year-old man has been arrested for his suspected involvement in the recent scams targeting customers of OCBC Bank, by allegedly setting up a bank account to receive victims' money.

In a media release on Monday (Jul 18), the police said they received a report on Dec 26 from a victim who lost more than S$100,000.

Preliminary investigations showed that more than S$18,000 of the victim’s money was transferred to a UOB corporate bank account.

“The 31-year-old man had allegedly used his CorpPass credentials to open a corporate account for a locally incorporated company in November 2021,” the police said.

“The man then relinquished the bank account to an unknown person, allegedly for monetary benefits.”

According to the police, the bank account was then used to facilitate several high-value transactions between Dec 20 and 27 last year. More than S$4 million passed through the bank account, they added.

The man will be charged in court on Tuesday with entering an arrangement to assist another person to retain benefits from criminal conduct.

If convicted, he could be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to S$500,000, or both.

At least 13 people have been arrested in relation to the OCBC Bank phishing scams, in which hundreds of victims lost a total of S$13.7 million last year. Several people were also charged with assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct.

The bank said earlier this year that victims who fell prey to the scam had provided their online banking log-in credentials and one-time PINs to phishing websites, enabling scammers to take over their bank accounts and make fraudulent transactions.

About 80 per cent of the amount was lost over the year-end festive period, it added.

Andres, G. (2022, July 18). Man arrested for suspected involvement in OCBC phishing scams. CNA. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/ocbc-phishing-scam-man-arrested-set-bank-account-receive-money-2818376