ABS warns of rise in card phishing scams

Banks will roll out additional verification, the ABS said.

The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) has issued a warning to the public against the rise in phishing scams involving the fraudulent provisioning of debit  or credit cards into mobile wallets.  

Major card issuing banks have reportedly prevented $53.9m in related losses in Q4 2024 alone after adjusting fraud surveillance measures in response to the rising scams.

In such scams, the victim is tricked into providing his or her card details on a phishing website. The scammer proceeds to fraudulently provision the victim’s card onto a mobile wallet in the scammer’s device, then trick the victim to provide the SMS one-time password (OTP) or enters a phishing website operated by the scammer.

Banks will continue to enhance their suite of measures to lean against this scam modus operandi, the ABS said.

Banks have also been working with mobile wallet providers— Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay— and card service providers— Visa, Mastercard— to tighten card provisioning processes, the ABS said.

“Going forward, banks will require additional verification such as in-app controls or digital token  authentication for provisioning cards onto mobile wallets,” the organisation said.

Card issuing banks are expected to implement such enhancements as soon as possible, with completion expected by July 2025.